


Senseless, Book Three - The Family

by FeugoFox42



Series: Senseless [3]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Adventure, Drama, F/F, F/M, Family, Fluff, Humor, Lewd-Lite, Multi, Mystery, One Scene of Intense Violence, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 03:09:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 106,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19803487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeugoFox42/pseuds/FeugoFox42
Summary: Coco, Fox, Velvet, Yatsuhashi and Neo have seen each other through a lot. But all things must come to an end. With Team CFVYN Graduating, new opportunities are opened up to them. Not without the past catching up once more.Set in an AU where Beacon never fell, and CRME's goals are set a little lower than you're normally used to.





	1. Chapter 1

**KEY:**

"Speech"  
_Thought_  
{" _Sign Language_ "}  
_~Thought Talking~_  
**Scroll message**  
_*Scroll call*_

* * *

Two synchronised alarms rang at precisely 6:47 on this mid-July morning.

Why that specific time? No one was really sure.

One alarm belonged to Team JNPR's resident Rensexual, hammer wielding sloth enthusiast, Nora Valkyrie. She jumped straight out of bed, landing on the floor with her hands placed firmly on her hips, glee spread across her features.

"It's finally here again," she bellowed, earning disapproving grunts of 'we don't want this, we want to sleep' from the other three members of the team. She didn't care. "I can't wait!"

The other alarm rang from their sister team, RWBY. Unsurprisingly, the owner of the noise maker was none other than the team leader. The crimson tipped young adult, a phrase she loved hearing now having been around many other people who had been hearing that for the past two years already, sat up with stars in her eyes and rolled off her swinging bunk bed.

"It's time!" she squealed.

"Ruby..." her alabaster haired girlfriend groaned from her own bed as her teammates across the room each took a pillow and buried their heads underneath them.

"No Weiss, it's that time of year again, and it's super special this time..."

Both girls ran to their dorm doors, threw them open simultaneously to stare at the other early riser and greeted the other in the middle of the hallway with the one reason they were both up so early, chanting it at the same time.

"It's International Sloth _and_ Pancake Day!"  
"Coco and her team are Graduating today!"

"Wait, what?"  
"Wait, what?"

"Nora, don't you care that the only real friends we have as a group from the year above are graduating today and that in a year's time that will be us up on that podium?"

"Hmm..." the bubbly ginger thought out loud before giving a resounding "Nope!", popping the 'p' as she usually did when she was convinced of her own actions, "I'm more concerned about the fact that it's a day about Sloths _and_ Pancakes, and you know how much I _loooove_ both of those things!"

The scythe wielder sighed, "Yeah okay, I'mma just go back to my room now and-"

"Sure, see you later!" Nora bounded back into her room and closed the door with slightly too much force behind her, leaving Ruby alone in the corridor. She trudged herself back into the room, slowly and gently shutting the door in complete contrast to Nora. She turned around and slumped against the door, her silver eyes glancing up only when she felt other eyes staring at her. Sure enough, Weiss from her own bed and Blake from hers and Yang's shared were staring at her, the former annoyed at the sudden wake-up cry from above her, the latter irked at Nora's apparent inability to have any other settings other than; 'Sleeping' [rarely used], 'Snoring' [that's better], 'Loud' [near constant], Hungry [comes and goes, but when it comes you know about it] and Excited [almost always]. Sometimes, it was even a mixture of multiple, but that was not a thought she wanted this early on a Friday morning.

"Please tell me I was never _that_ bad..." the younger adult begged in a whisper. Weiss gestured for her girlfriend to lay on her bed - which she complied with - while Blake saw that Ruby was being more considerate now and would most likely let the rest of them sleep a bit more, so she took the chance to do so and cuddled back up to her Mate, who naturally slept like a rock through the entire ordeal.

"No, never like that. You were boisterous at times, a little over-excited at others, but you always kept yourself in relative check. And you were most certainly never _that_ single-minded about something."

"Okay, good."

"Not unless that something was a certain seven letter word I know."

"Is that word 'Partner'?"

Weiss looked at Ruby, who smiled back innocently enough. She wasn't sure if it was the early time or the fact the brunette's naivety was endearing yet marginally irritating, but she didn't look too pleased to hear that. "No, you boob. It was 'Cookies'."

"Oh." Silver eyes found interest elsewhere in the room, but felt the urge to return to the fair skinned girl beside her. Sure enough, she was treated to a nice dusting of pink on the older woman's cheeks. "What's wrong Weiss?"

"Were you really that infatuated with me that you consider yourself almost single-minded about me?"

"Of course," the reaper said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "I accidently confessed my feelings for you ages ago, and they hadn't faded in all the time we were forced by your Dad to take things painfully slow. I love you Weiss, and that was never going to stop."

"You dolt..." she muttered with a grin, kissing the younger woman on the forehead, replying to her in a way that omitted words, but packed just as much impact. They lay there on the ex-Heiress' bed in silence - Weiss remaining under the covers, Ruby atop them - for what felt like only a few minutes before Ruby spoke up again.

"I'm worried though."

"About?"

"Team CFVYN."

"Ruby Rose, have you not been paying attention?" The younger of the two shrugged slightly, her form shrinking in shame.

"Maybe? What about? Because I might have been." Externally, Weiss shook her head at the silliness of her girlfriend's thoughts; internally, she was smiling and laughing with her at them.

"Those five are the strongest unit in this Academy. They've done things now that even trained Huntsmen shy away from, and they were still learning at the time. Why are you worried about them, they're going to pass with flying colours."

"It's not so much _that_ that's worrying me, it's... y'know... Neo." Everything made sense now to the ex-Heiress, and all that came from her was a near-monotonous "I see" in response. "I mean, you three did threaten her pretty bad when they came back from their mission at that resort place, and you weren't the nicest to her for a good while after that too."

"First off, we hadn't seen her since the fight between all of us at the start of the year. As such, we didn't know anything about why she did what she did until way after the fact. So, when we were coming down the corridor to see her attempting to hug you, I personally believe that we responded in an appropriate manner given our knowledge of the events and the circumstances. Having since learned properly what actually occurred and why she did what she did, it not only made sense, but for me at least I felt guilty for treating her the way we did then. And when we had our little... 'clarification' with her, it proved definitively that she meant everything. Even if Yang and Blake somehow haven't swayed, you don't need to worry about that from me."

"Thanks Weiss." Ruby leaned up and pecked the fair skinned young woman on the cheek, bringing forth yet another blush from her, this one having slightly more prominence than the one she sported previously that morning. "It's so easy to make you blush," the reaper joked.

"Only because I'm so ghostly pale," she responded, "it shows easier on my skin."

"Nope," Ruby retorted, "it's because I am too adorable, and I melted your cold heart."

"...I will give you that one, but only because I love you, my Rosebud."

"I love you too, Snowpea."

"Get a room..." came the groggy groan of the blonde from across the way.

"No," both Weiss and Ruby looked at each other, finding it funny that they both had the same train of thought and spoke so perfectly in sync it sounded almost like one voice. Their giggles were interrupted by another more aggressive groan, followed by something thrown at them from afar.

Ruby gave in to the requests, concluding it would be more beneficial and overall easier to deal with than the prospect of antagonising Yang, and by proxy Blake, and having to deal with that afterwards. "We'll be quiet," she said, poking her head out slightly from the bottom bunk. There was one more grunt before the soft *thwmp* of Yang's head hitting a pillow again, signalling they were in the clear.

"When did we stop calling each other nicknames ironically to annoy those two and actually started calling one another by them normally?"

"No clue Weiss, no clue at all."

* * *

Teams RWBY and JNPR filed into the main hall along with everyone else in their year in eager anticipation, the events of the morning having been largely pushed to the wayside, and Blake carrying a very important backpack on her back with her. A certain someone was incredibly curious as to what was contained in there, but she wasn't getting the answer she wanted after multiple asks, even though no one had been in the bag to change anything about it.

"Is it a sloth?"

"No."

"Pancake mixing equipment?"

"No."

"A _baby_ sloth?! Please say yes..."

"It's not a sloth, Nora."

Nora had to be restrained by JPR and Yang when they all went down for breakfast and she was told she couldn't celebrate 'International Sloth and Pancake Day' today because there was something equally as - if not more - important happening for their friends.

"By why?" the ginger moaned in dissatisfaction at her current predicament. "It's sloths _and_ pancakes! That's demanding to be celebrated!"

"Because it's graduation for the Fourth Years, and Team CFVYN are in the runnings for one of the S Tier slots this year. We all wanted to be there for them and offer some support." By this point they were already in the hall and seated, so Nora had lost. That didn't mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that she wasn't going to go down fighting. The back and forth the Valkyrie had with her team and their friends continued as everyone else in attendance filed in, even getting slightly heated when Weiss mentioned she had never heard of the day, and Nora bit back saying how she was such "an Atlas girl" that she hadn't had the joys of the day. Fortunately for the Third Year teams and everyone in the immediate vicinity, the Professors of Beacon walked onto the stage, silencing the crowd and fizzling out the argument.

"Welcome everyone. I'm happy to be saying this once again, but we have a fine selection of young adults here today who have grown massively since their time with us started four years ago. A lot has happened in that time, a lot of good has been done and a lot of learning has taken place. Even though you are all graduating today, you will not stop learning. Every mission, no matter how great or small, will always offer up something that you can take away and learn from. But enough about that, I think. Let us begin the ceremony." There was a gentle ripple of applause after Professor Ozpin's introduction that died down fairly quickly. They were all sure he knew - what with him being Headmaster of this school for long enough and the fact he's always in the know about everything - but after the official graduation and semi-formal get together, there was always an unofficial one thrown by a group that all the graduating teams are invited to, as are some Third Year teams as well, so it was always in his best interests to give the minimal amount of formality and necessary speech needed to move right along with the graduation. Ozpin was always good like that.

There was no particular order in which the teams graduated. It wasn't alphabetically, because the first team graduating was Team SMRK {Shamrock}, and CFVYN was most definitely before that in the alphabet. Nor was it reverse alphabet, as after SMRK came ZAFR {Zaffre}. And it wasn't by Tiers either, as SMRK were given A Tier Status, then ZAFR were C Tiers with the strong potential, if they did their best and really pushed themselves in missions, to make it to B Tiers within a few years. It made the wait even more painful as there was no way they could know when Team CFVYN were going to be called up.

"This is killing me," Ruby commented to her team in a soft whisper, "when are they going to be up?"

"We'll just have to wait Rubes, they'll be there." The hooded young woman pouted slightly as she slumped back into her seat, not particularly fond of this waiting around.

The time in which they were in there seemed to drag to the point of inactivity, where the solitary clock in the hall looked almost as if the hands has stopped ticking and all they could do is remain in this purgatory of timelessness. Ruby even swore she saw the hand tick _backwards_ a few times.

"Now, I'm sure there are a few of you in here today as guests, or indeed any of our recent batch of newly qualified Huntsmen and Huntresses, who are wondering why two teams haven't been mentioned yet." Ruby perked up immediately, her eyes widening and, if she had them, her ears would have stood alert atop her head. The conversation topic cropped up on one Team Night back in the early half of their Second Year about what Faunus each of the three non-Faunus would be had they been born with traits of their choosing.

Yang was positive that she'd be a dragon Faunus (no surprises there), even though Blake insisted that dragon Faunus, and just dragons in general, didn't exist, a fact her girlfriend didn't appreciate much. But when it was mentioned she would be more like a Golden Retriever, Blake backed away slightly - her looming distrust of canines never quite conquered, and dog Faunus seemed to be under that same umbrella. Yang did her best not to laugh uproariously at the reaction.

Weiss was a little more difficult to suss out, but they settled on a feline Faunus much like Blake. Rather than being exactly like Blake though, Weiss' strive for perfection would have been amplified and refusing anything less than such would have been her default answer to anything. She didn't appreciate that her team felt so negatively about her actions, but they were all in jest.

But when it came to Ruby, all three of the older girls simultaneously chanted out the words "wolf Faunus" as if they'd been conditioned to say it. Easily excitable, bundles of energy, makes friends with practically everyone; it was a no brainer. Weiss did throw in the curveball of how, if she theoretically became a canine Faunus of any kind, consuming any chocolate would be nearly fatal. Ruby whined on hearing that, earning a laugh from the others as their collective point had been proven of how she would have been a scythe wielding Wolf, whimpering and all.

"That is because," Ozpin continued, "these are the two teams who have shown the most skill consistently over all aspects of their lives here at Beacon. They have excelled here as students, and myself and my colleagues agree that they will excel in future life. So; Plume Celosia, Hebe Speedwell, Linaria Snapdragon and Xander Bailnce of Team PHLX {Phlox}, and Coco Adel, Fox Alistair, Velvet Scarlatina, Yatsuhashi Daichi and Orchid Russet of Team CFVYN, please come join me the stage."

That was the cue she had been waiting for.

The second she saw the unmistakable height of Yatsuhashi at the front of the hall, Ruby began cheering louder than she ever had before that day, embarrassing herself and her teammates on her behalf. On stage, Coco heard the cheering coming from the young leader from halfway down the hall, so to tease her she lowered her sunglasses ever so slightly and winked at the hooded girl from afar, causing the cheering from her to stop abruptly as she choked on air. The sound caused a few giggles from the graduating team on stage and a few pockets of people dotted around the audience as well. If you were paying close attention to her - which not many people were, they were too focussed on the nine soon-to-be-ex-students walking up to the stage - you would have noticed that even Glynda Goodwitch cracked a small smile at that as well.

"The nine young adults behind me now are what we as teachers strive to create in all budding Huntsmen and Huntresses who walk through our doors. These teams are not invincible, these teams have made mistakes. But what they _have_ done better than others, is they have adapted to those mistakes, found ways to overcome the obstacles placed in front of them and better themselves so that they do not falter again. They have shown us the true values of those who can protect this world, and so it is with greatest pride that I hereby certify Team CFVYN and Team PHLX as S Tier Huntsmen Teams!" The applause was grandiose to the nine on stage, as all of a sudden hundreds of people stood and were cheering for them, and only them. Some, like Yatsuhashi, Linaria and Plume, were trying to keep a serious face on, with team leader Plume being the only one to crack. Others, or more specifically the rest of CFVYN, were grinning and soaking in the praise that came their way.

~ _I would have missed this,_ ~ Fox commented, staring out on to the crowd of people clapping for them.

~ _As would I,_ ~ Neo replied as she swivelled her head to look at Fox, a genuine smile on her face, ~ _and I have you to thank for giving me this memory._ ~

~ _And I you._ ~ He turned to look back at her, and they stood there smiling at one another.

"And with these two teams done, we have come to the end of the ceremony. I wish to thank you all for attending, and I look forward to seeing all you Huntsmen and Huntresses later this evening for the Graduation Ball." There was one final round of applause as the teaching faculty and the S Tiers left the stage.


	2. Fruits of their Labour

"Cocoooo!" The caramel tipped leader barely had a chance to register what she was hearing before she was tackled by Ruby to the floor, the pair sliding a good few metres of the smooth tiled floor after impact.

"Seriously Rubes?" her sister commented as she strolled over past Velvet and a couple of others in the hallway they were talking to - emphasis on the 'were' talking to - knowing she was going to have to pry her silver eyed relative off the fashionista.

"You did it! I can't believe you did it! You're S Tiers, oh my Oum this is amazing! Well, I mean, I _did_ believe you can do it; I'm just shocked it happened. Wait, no I'm not, I'm... uh I- hey!"

"Alright, that's quite enough Rubes." To stop her from crushing the gunner to death with one of her famous tackle hugs, Yang had grabbed Ruby by the scruff of her hood and held her slightly higher than she could stand, her feet dangling off the floor comically.

"Yaaang! Let me down, I want to talk to her."

"And I don't want you to be the person known for killing an S Tier Team Leader before they've even had that title for less than half an hour." As much as she didn't want to believe it, Yang had a point and the desperate attempt to escape ceased. Oddly enough, she was down again not five seconds after she stopped flailing.

"And _I_ would rather like to keep my Mate alive for the foreseeable future," Velvet added, joining the two sisters and Coco in their new location. "Plus, I didn't exactly want to be feeling ' _Panic, Dread, Doom_ ' from her, so I would have found a way to pry you off eventually if that had persisted." Ruby looked ashamed at what she did, hanging her head and sticking her bottom lip out. "I mean it in a joking manner Ruby; we all know how excited you can get."

"I just wanted to speak with you..."

"It's fine Red, I get it," Coco mentioned as she eased herself back to standing, dusting herself off to make herself more presentable, "I just wasn't expecting it, but I'm not complaining. In all fairness, I've gotten used to your tackle hugs by now. Not the sudden surprise of you hitting into me, but the pain and lack of air have gotten easier to deal with."

"Velvet said how you were feeling 'Dread' and 'Panic' when I was hugging you." The fashionista shot a quick glance to the Rabbit, who shrugged.

"I just... wasn't anticipating it, is all. I'm still on the high after the ceremony, so I'm not all there." Ruby accepted the excuse, and Coco sent a feeling of ' _Relief_ ' across their Mark at the fact the lie worked. Yang noticed the faint glow on the shoulder, but chose not to comment. It was a Mate thing, and what she'd picked up from Blake telling her, plus first-hand experience, was that calling someone out on their Marks glowing made some Faunus feel uncomfortable doing so again, and it can actually weaken some bonds if the unease persists. Coco and Velvet, Yang and Blake were both strong couple with a good connection between the respective pairings and at least one of the pair was hard-headed, so the weakening bond was very unlikely. Still, being called out was most definitely an unpleasant experience, and one Yang planned on avoiding.

"I promise I won't do it again," the young reaper replied, equal parts ashamed and annoyed at herself. Coco's response to that was to ruffle the young woman's hair.

"Ruby, I don't care about that. Part of your charm is your abundant energy and enthusiasm, and if that comes across in the form of overzealous hugs, then so be it." Coco leaned in, initiating the hug this time. Her eyes naturally drifted shut as her hug continued. "Honestly, I am going to miss it." As the beret wearer's eyes drifted open and her hug broke, she saw the girlfriends of the two sisters approaching them. "I'm going to miss all of you. You four are going to do great, I can tell." With one action, the feline Faunus' ears caught on and a smile grew in her face.

"Is it just me Weiss," Blake commented, a teasing tone to her voice, "or do I sense that the great Coco Adel is going to start crying?"

"No, I am not. It's just a cold that's been coming on for the past few-"

"Yes, she was," Velvet corrected.

"Bitch!" came the immediate, almost instinctual response from the fashionista at her Mate's admittance of her emotions. The Rabbit merely shrugged, a smug grin on her face as Team RWBY laughed. It didn't take too long for Coco to find the funny side of it too. "C'mon let's go say hi to the rest of the team; it wasn't just me that graduated, everyone else did too."

Fox, Neo and Yatsuhashi were all having a talk with Doctor Oobleck when their teammates joined them, Team RWBY in tow.

"...in conclusion, I believe the winner would be... Ah, Ms. Adel, Ms. Scarlatina." The over-caffeinated Professor turned back to the three he was previously having a conversation with. "I shall leave you five alone. Congratulations to you all once again."

"But sir, who do you think would win?" Fox almost begged for an answer.

"In due time, Mr. Alistair. For now, I have other now ex-students I have been meaning to speak with. I shall see you later though, I presume?" Without even waiting for an answer, he was gone.

"You do realise we may never get a solid answer from any of them, right?" Yatsuhashi mentioned.

"I know... hey Coco."

"Let me guess, you were asking him about that hypothetical fight between the five teachers and his opinion on who believe would win, but right at the last second found some excuse to leave the conversation promising to continue it in the future - but he'll most likely forget?"

"Hit the nail on the head."

Ruby approached the three she hadn't already greeted yet that day, throwing her arms around the shortest one there. "Neo! Well done, you did amazing!" The mute smiled, her eyes swapping to both pink. But when those eyes glanced up, they spotted three heads of hair - golden yellow, snow white and shadow black respectively - looking at her, and immediately they swapped to ivory white and Neo shattered away from the hug, appearing a few metres away from where she was. The sudden disappearance of another body to lean on caused the reaper to stumble forward, but she was caught by the 7ft tank standing by. "Thanks, Yatsuhashi. And congratulations also."

"Thank you, Ruby."

"What's up Ni?" Fox inquired making his way back to where his girlfriend was.

~ _Maybe it's the fact three people - who I'm not sure if they still hate my guts or not - are staring at me embracing the reason they hate me in the first place... well, second place._ ~

"Neo, do you honestly not remember New Years at _all?_ " The mute raised an eyebrow and shook her head, wandering what could be that bad that she wouldn't remember an entire day's worth of information. "You disappeared in the morning without a word, so we tried searching for you but to no avail. We ran into Ruby who was searching for her team, and we tracked them - and you - down to an old martial arts dojo near Vale's outskirts. We busted our way in to find you lying on the floor and the other three around you, informing us that was your idea. They showed us the note you wrote them and everything. Apparently, it was your way of smoothing out any creases in your relationship with them, but you a few harder knocks than you were clearly expecting." The ice cream girl glanced over at WBY, who were smiling at her.

~ _I did?_ ~ Her memory was knocked slightly askew after that encounter, so Neo's brain wasn't completely in sync with everything and she had occasional blips with what she could remember, but for the most part she was completely fine.

"Go over to them and prove it." Readying herself with a couple of long, hard breaths, she walked towards them. But once she got right next to Fox, she reached out to take his hand, clearly not ready to face it head on alone.

The small 4'10" woman stared up at the much taller Trainee Huntresses opposite her, even the 5'3" Weiss seemed giant to her; such is one of the disadvantages of her stature. She was nervous, more than she had felt previously. Ursa, Fuck-No's, even the Nuckelavee and Akkorokamui were a cake walk compared to how she felt with this. As she nervously let go of Fox's hand, the world around her seemingly stopped. Conversations being had by all other parties in the area ceased in an instant, the world muffled by the tunnel vision of fear she had walked into. Everything blurred except the three focuses of her attention, the three women in front. Hesitantly, she raised her hand and waved a hello, her face contorting into a forced smile.

To her surprise, all three of them responded with the identical gesture, Neo's world coming back to life on seeing them repeat it.

{" _You... understand me?_ "} she queried, still in Sign.

"They can't," her boyfriend clarified, "not completely, at least. By their own merits, they've taught themselves the absolute basics like 'Hello', 'Goodbye', 'My name is...', 'Letters', that sort of thing. They wanted to- well, I'll let them explain." He gently pushed her closer to them slightly, even the slightest coaxing forward was met with heavy resistance from her.

"Listen Ice Cream, what you did on New Year's took guts," Yang began.

"I admit, myself and Yang had a hard time dealing with what you were putting forward, especially Yang - you dislocated my girlfriend's, her sister's arm. It was only _long_ after the fact did we know what happened. And your..." Weiss was unsure how to put this gracefully, so she settled on, "'invite' was very cryptic, your motives were not."

"What the three of us have been doing in the time since New Year's has been tough, but ultimately worth it." Blake took the backpack off her back, reached inside and grabbed the contents from it. Out came a book that was handed to Neo. It was very thrown together, evident by the cover being taken from a large children's book that they found with the word "Title?" scribbled across the front in large, bold letters. There was some more writing underneath in much neater and smaller handwriting - Neo guessed it would be Weiss' handiwork - saying "No Puns".

Yang gestured to the tome in her hand, eager for the mute to see its contents. "We wanted you to see it above all others. We couldn't do it alone though, so we did have to ask for some help from your teammates when you weren't around, they are the kings and queens of this topic." That made Neo even more interested in what this had to offer, so she eagerly opened the cover to the first page.

_*-Page1-_

_Why would three Huntresses in Training want to dedicate their time to writing a book? Well, the answer is very simple._

_During our time at Beacon Academy in Vale, we had a couple of friends who had some form of disability that limited their ability to communicate naturally like most people do. One was completely blind, so they were relying on braille to read any block of text. Another was rendered mute through contracting a disease that took their vocal chords from them. This meant that Sign Language was their go to form of communicating, but as only a handful of people in the Academy knew it we were reliant on this person writing it down on paper or typing it up on their Scroll, or even having to have the message passed through a third party._

_No more._

_Nobody deserves to feel like their lack of voice means they have no voice, so this book is essentially a Pictionary that give you some commonly used words and phrases, and provides images and written instructions on how to 'say' them in Sign Language...*_

Neo looked at the three girls in shock. They gestured to keep reading, and she happily did so.

_*-Page 136-_

_Knowing and understanding Sign Language isn't just useful for when you're trying to communicate with someone who is HOH or mute, it can be used practically as well. In the field, Huntsmen and Huntresses could use Sign Language on missions to silently talk to one another without alerting anyone to their presence. This is especially useful against Grimm such as Goliaths or Lepidopterans, whose hearing is...*_

_*-Page 74-_

_...inclusion is important for them. Much like the Faunus minorities, stigmas are often used against those who can't talk or can't hear when they are spoken to...*_

Neo didn't need any more information to tell her that they had forgiven her, but also that they had done something _for_ her - doing their collective best to make Beacon, at least, a lot more disability friendly. Knowing it was most likely a strong near-final draft but not the end piece, Neo chucked the book down and ran at them all, hugging into Blake in the middle with tears streaming down her face, her shoulders hitching as she sobbed tear of happiness into her top. Weiss wrapped her arms around Neo and Blake, and Yang encircled them all.

~ _Do you believe us now?_ ~ Fox asked.

~ _Without a shadow of a doubt._ ~

* * *

The official post-Graduation Get-Together went off hitch free. There were a couple of students who had maybe had a drink or two before attending, as they were swaying ever so slightly at the toast to their futures. But after _that_ formality was over, most people were filing out at a steady pace to get ready for the unofficial party.

Team CFVYN were readying themselves in their old dorm room. Now that they had graduated, the room was technically no longer theirs, as they were no longer part of the student body at the Academy. That said, Glynda reminded them all at the official Get-Together that the room will not have the locks changed until after the academic year had finished, so technically the teams could remain in the room until that time. Most did, but there were some teams who had already pooled together and were renting space or had outright bought their own accommodation together. Team CFVYN was not one of those teams, despite having a much larger sum of money to their name thanks in part to there being five on the team, but also the fact that Coco insisted that they only took mid-B Tier missions and upwards. They did occasionally drop to some easy C-Tier work to give themselves some time off; by finishing those missions at record speeds, it left the rest of their allotted mission time free for them to take a break and plan things out for their collective futures. One thing they did after their mission at 'The Four Season Springs' was create a team bank account - lovingly dubbed 'The CFVY Pot' by Velvet and the name stuck - that they could put most of their earnings in and dive into whenever there was something team related that they'd need a larger sum of money than they had set aside for their individual and everyday accounts.

And the conversation topic that came to light as they were readying themselves for the party that night brought 'The CFVY Pot' into the mix.

"Hey, Neo?" The mute looked over at the Faunus of the group. "When are you two going to propose?" The couple paused what they were doing and looked at each other, obviously talking to each other in their heads. Yatsuhashi finished sending a message before closing his Scroll and joining in the conversation.

"You did say that you were going to at some point after graduation."

"Not straight afterwards," the copper haired boy clarified.

"Why not tonight? I mean, you both have your respective rings for one another, and it'd be a great way to send Team CFVYN off in style."

"Maybe we don't want that," Fox suggested, "maybe we just want something a lot less grandiose, something intimate and personal rather than having the entire year and more there to witness it."

"Yeah, but think of al-"

"Velvs, let's let them do their own thing."

"But Coco, aren't you normally the one suggesting for people to do this sort of thing?" Coco ignored the pleas from her Mate and went up to her teammates.

"Whilst both Velvet and Yatsuhashi have valid points, you're the ones proposing to each other. When you're ready, do it. Not before."

{" _Thanks Coco, it means a lot._ "} The gunner smiled sweetly before grabbing her toiletries and heading to the shower. ~ _Fox, sweetie?_ ~

~ _Yeah?_ ~

~ _We're still going to do it tonight, right?_ ~

~ _That was our plan. Unless you're chickening out._ ~

~ _Please, I honestly thought_ _ **you'd**_ _be the one to pull out last minute._ ~

~ _Don't I always?_ ~ he teased.

~ _Not while there are children in the room, dear._ ~

~ _A) No one can hear us, and B) I_ _ **am**_ _the metaphorical child in the room, remember?_ ~ She smirked, as did he. ~ _Where is yours?_ ~

~ _Back pocket of the trousers I'm going to wear. They're cargo pants, so they'll be baggy enough to hide the box. You?_ ~

~ _It's loose in my pocket right now, so when I get showered I was planning on slipping it onto a chain you gave me whilst I get changed, then wear a high necked top to obscure it. Even then, I'm going to illusion it out of sight on the off chance something happens._ ~ Fox mentally applauded the intricacy of her plan.

~ _Crafty plan; I love it._ ~

She just shot him a smug look back. ~ _If they know as well, it's not a big surprise, is it? Sure, they know we are proposing to one another. Just not when._ ~ They both winked at one another then proceeded to continue getting ready for the evening.


	3. Well, If You're Going To Propose

"Not going to lie, this is a pretty awesome place," Coco admitted as they moved away from the floor and to the sides of the hall, finding a bunch of empty seats for them all to take a break in. Team FYRR's female member Romaine Eldr spoke with her father, an owner of a club just past Vale's main city borders called 'The Brinnande', to see if their year could hold the unofficial there, providing everyone paid on the door so as they wouldn't lose out on money as an establishment. He agreed, so everyone had a proper place to go for the party. Having never been to 'The Brinnande' before, CFVYN were surprised at the size of it considering how out of the way it was.

"It is very different, but that adds to its charm," Yatsuhashi commented, drink in hand. The club itself had a very Nordic vibe, with lots of its interior and rear exterior décor giving the impression that the place was an old Chieftain's abode, complete with strong wooden support beams, chandeliers lit by 'candlelight' (it was actually Fire Dust moulded with wax so that the flame produced burnt as bright as regular electric lights), horizontal support beams carved with Ancient Mistrali text, even seats were draped with the fur off an Ursa's hide. Obviously, it was fake; but everyone knew that and just accepted it to go along with the visual aesthetic of the club.

"This is a new one on me too, but I'm so happy that you invited me to it."

"Jade, why wouldn't we?" The neon green eyed girl shrugged, grabbing her cocktail from the table and sipping it nervously.

"I don't know. It's just... this is a party for you guys, you're Huntsmen and Huntresses now. _And_ you're the best of the best too. I feel like a gate crasher, piggybacking on your glory."

"You need to stop that. You helped us all out so much back in September/October, and for all intents and purposes you are a civilian. You didn't get _any_ praise back then, so that's being made up for now. So just enjoy yourself, alright?" Jade saw the determination behind the reflective lensed stare she was receiving from Coco, and rather than argue a losing battle with her, she accepted it and raised her glass. Everyone present from Team CFVYN at the table - Coco, Velvet and Yatsuhashi - did so as well.

"Besides," Velvet added, "you and Yatsu are essentially a couple; with a 'Plus1' system for the party, why wouldn't you get invited?" The woman smiled, admitting when she was wrong to be thinking so badly of herself and started to relax a lot more.

Meanwhile, Fox and Neo were staring down at the party from a high balcony ledge.

~ _It's getting pretty full down there, I think that's our entire year and change._ ~ Neo looked across to Fox, who was still staring down at the large group of twenty-somethings enjoying their final night as students/first night as Huntsmen and Huntresses. ~ _You ready for this?_ ~ Fox finally drew his eyes away from the crowd and locked eyes with Neo. She looked determined, and rightly so. She'd been thinking of this for years now, almost the same length of time as he'd known her properly, although he knew from conversations prior that she had marriage on the mind even as she and Velvet were still "Study Buddies" and he was blissfully unaware of her presence in their dorm room. He was still on board with the entire idea, and he honestly couldn't dream of a world without her anymore; it was just... ~ _A lot to take in?_ ~ He raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"How did you-"

~ _We've been together for over two years, and you're **still** asking that question?_~ It clicked in his head, and it drooped in shame. The mute approached him, kissing him on the cheek and reaching her arm across the man's shoulders. ~ _We don't have to do this tonight, you are aware, right? I know we both said we wanted to before, but our minds can change. We can call it off, have a more intimate proposal with just the others there._ ~ Fox took a deep breath, grabbing the box from his rear trouser pocket. It was a small box, large enough to fit the ring for Neo's dainty finger but still compact enough to not be noticeable to anyone at a passing glance, human or Faunus alike.

He fiddled with it a little, feeling its weight, looking over every detail of the deep burgundy velvet case, before starting to slip it back into his rear pocket. But as he was doing so, he paused and looked back at Neo. Her smile was infectious; it broke it the copper haired boy out of his stupor and brought newfound determination to him, the man now slipping the case in his front pocket for ease now.

"No, we do it tonight. I know how long you've waited for this moment, we might as well end the year with a bang. Besides, we want people to still remember this, so the longer we're waiting around, they're going to be drinking more and getting progressively more drunk as the seconds tick by."

~ _You're right, it's now or never._ ~ They leaned in for a quick peck, knowing they'll have more time for kissing in a minute. Fox shook himself out and positioned himself a few steps in front of the banister that was stopping anyone from drunkenly stumbling down a storey. Neo, on the other hand, stood much further back - essentially at the club's wall - and took out white Air Dust crystal from her outfit pocket. ~ _Are you sure you don't want me to just kick you over the edge?_ ~

"No thanks," he chuckled, "I prefer to keep my Aura intact for the rough landing I'm about to have. This'll do the same trick with less of an impact on my Aura."

' _Yeah, okay. Also, this method is also 50 Lien dearer than a simple boot to the chest._ '

"Nobody's going to know it's you if you throw the Dust from far enough back."

Neo rolled her eyes. ~ _Fine,_ ~ they narrowed in on Fox once more, their colours switching sides, ~ _but if you scream, I get an extra 200 Lien for my dress._ ~

~ _What?! Are you crazy? Aren't you making your own dress.~_

~ _Y es, I am going to make my own dress. But materials aren't cheap. And y_ou're right, 250; that also covers this Dust crystal.~

~ _That hardly seems fair, wasn't part of the plan for me to cry out so they'd get out of the way before I hit the ground?_ ~ She smirked and reared her hand back.

~ _You catch on just that little bit too slow for my liking._ ~ With that final remark, the ice cream girl threw the crystal hard at the floor just in front of him, then sprinted as quietly as she could to one side so that it looked like she wasn't the one doing the throwing. Having timed this before, Fox jumped just as the crystal hit the ground, so when the surge of air from the exploding Dust shard hit him, he was high enough off the ground to clear the banister instead of shattering through it. The orange themed man sored through sky of the club, wanting to scream, but also not wanting to owe his girlfriend 250 Lien for performing an instinctive bodily command.

"Look out!" someone from the crowd cried, spotting Fox careening through the air towards them. Everyone turned, then promptly screamed and parted, giving the scarred man plenty of room to collide with the hardwood floor. There were audible gasps and groans as he landed with a heavy crash, rolling a couple of times and skidding to a halt on his stomach, punctuated by the sudden record scratch of the music grinding to an unceremonious halt. While most of the attention was there with him, some people turned to look at where he flew from. They saw Neo approaching the banister from the side, her face awash with horror at what just happened. They fell for the trick. Those who focussed on neither of those members of Team CFVYN instead turned to the remaining three and the green haired girl with them as they called his name and pushed their way through the crowd to get to him.

Neo's shattering teleport closed the distance between them, getting right to his side in an instant. Jade, Coco and Velvet, and even the 7ft Yatsuhashi, were having trouble getting people out of the way in contrast.

{" _Fox, are you alright?_ "} she signed, playing up her concern for the audience.

"I'm good, Ni. I'm good," he groaned. He knew the impact would hurt, but even with his Aura flared up to the max to deal with the impact, he wasn't expecting it to hurt this much, so the groans of pain weren't him playing it up - it genuinely hurt.

{" _Can you stand?_ "}

"I can, yeah." He shifted slightly to better leaver himself up, resting his arm on his knee, "But since I'm down here..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the box. Neo feigned sudden surprise, everyone else didn't. Saying that everyone else in that room who knew them low-key lost their shit would be an understatement, but not untrue, especially the pair's teammates, who believed they were going to do this some other time. "Neo, when you came into my life, I didn't know what to say to you. It was rocky, and it was very much unstable ground, but we managed through those rough times and came out the other end stronger. And now that Beacon is behind us, I want more than just the life of a Huntsman in front of me. Orchid Russet, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

Inside the box was a dainty little ring. It was a 9ct White Gold ring adorned with diamonds and tourmalines - a pink gem to match her colour scheme - with many smaller diamonds gracing the side of the ring. On the edge of each side lay 24 of these diamonds, then through the middle of one side of the band alternated between tourmaline pink and diamond white, totalling in ten rubies and nine larger diamonds. There were squeals of glee coming from the odd person around them now, and there were more than a few Scrolls out recording this momentous moment. Meanwhile, Neo stood there in sheer shock. It was happening: the person she loved unconditionally was proposing to her. She had wanted this for ages, more years than she dared to think of, and in thinking back on this happy feeling as genuine tears started pooling in her eyes, she almost missed Fox commenting. ~ _They're buying it._ ~

~ _Seems it,_ ~ she replied. ' _This ought to really throw them though._ ' Neo cupped her hands in front of her face, then after a second or two lowered her head, almost in defeat.

"N... Neo?" She sighed silently, then retrieved her necklace and pulled out, showing her own ring for him around the small metal chain on her neck. The ring was far less intricate than hers was - a Rose Gold as opposed to a White Gold with a band of small spessartite garnets along the middle - strong orange coloured gems to match _his_ colour scheme. There were more gasps of anticipation, even a few people commenting on how "awesome this whole scenario is playing out", and when CVY got to the front they were just as shocked as everyone else. Well, all except Yatsuhashi, he may not have been able to get _through_ the crowd, but he was tall enough to see _over_ them all, so he got the gist of what was happening about seven metres back.

Fox stood, holding his ring whilst staring into Neo's beautiful orbs of pink and brown, just as she was standing and looking into his eyes of dark copper. "I take it that means a yes from you?" She nodded, extending out her hand to let him slip the ring on. Just as the jeweller had predicted, it fitted her perfectly.

{" _And your answer is?_ "} she signed, knowing the answer anyway but wanting it for the videos she spotted being taken around the circle.

Fox answered in both Sign Language and normal speech, in that order, for everyone. "Yes. Yes, I will." As Neo slipped the ring on his finger, the tears in her eyes could stay back any more and the crying came in thick and fast. Not tears of sorrow, obviously, but tears of unadulterated joy. Once both of their hands had their new accessories on them, the pair came together for a long awaited kiss as an engaged couple. The second their lips met, everyone started shouting and cheering for them, and there were more than a few tears from others in the crowd.

* * *

Team CFVYN had been given temporary access to the VIP Room on the upper shelf whilst they had a quick discussion thanks to Romaine pulling a couple of strings with her father. He didn't seem to mind too much, but gave them fifteen minutes only and expected no funny business up there. Coco assured him wholeheartedly that they were merely going up there to discuss away from the prying ears of the rest of their year, a sentiment he understood and appreciated.

"You sly sons of bitches," Coco began, playfully smacking Neo's arm as she said so, "we thought you weren't going to do it tonight!"

"Well, we had planned to do it at the after party for ages, but when you brought it up, we had to improvise our excuses for doing it some other time."

"I've got to admit Fox, you most certainly had us convinced." The engaged couple smiled at Yatsuhashi and the rest of their friends, glad they took the bait for their little misdirection. "But I am confused as to why you felt it necessary to throw yourself over the banister."

"Oh... well..."

{" _I told him that if we were going to do it tonight, we might as well make it the centre of attention. What better way than to force everybody to stop and look at us through some spectacular means rather than Fox walking up to the mic and pulling focus that way._ "}

"Makes sense," Velvet mused out loud, "but enough on why, let's see them!" It was no big shock that they'd be proposing to one another - although the 'how' most definitely was - considering they told them whilst still at the resort at the start of that academic year, but CVY and Jade had never seen the rings themselves until this moment. Having eliminated the magic of the proposal being a complete mystery to the team, Fox and Neo agreed that the when, the how and the rings would remain completely unknown to anyone outside of the two of them. And seeing the faces of their four closest friends light up when gazing at their engagement rings really nailed it home.

"You are two lucky people," Jade commented, "to have each other." Neo leaned across and hugged the greenette.

"...Neo's saying that things will work out, you just have to believe it will and be patient." He leaned in closer. "She also says that Yatsu may be breaking a little, so you're doing something right." That little aside filled Jade with hope for the future, and with a cheeky glance to the ring on Neo's finger, she accepted the sentiment.

"That can't be the only reason, can it?" Coco asked. "You didn't bring us up here so we can stare at your amazing rings, did you? There's something else."

"Hit the nail on the head Coco. See, I have no experience with this, and Neo's good, but not _that_ good. So, we've been thinking that, as our closest friends, that we'd ask you again to help us with our wedding."

"Yes." The Mates answered without a second to think it through. They had their answer anyway.

"It would be an honour," Yatsuhashi replied, having given it slightly more thought than them. All eyes turned to Jade, who was taken aback by the shift in focus to her.

"Me?"

"Jade, we weren't going to leave you out of this, of course you're invited. Besides, I need _someone_ to keep these three in check." The copper haired boy gestured to his three female teammates, receiving harsh glances in return. He shrugged them off playfully, then focussed again on Jade, awaiting her answer.

"...Alright then, I accept." Neo resumed her hug, shocking an "Eep!" out of the woman from the sudden embrace.

"Now, let's get back to the party. We've got even more reasons to celebrate now!" The hexad of adults nodded in agreement and rose to their feet, making their way back out to the party. The lights were flashing, the music was blaring, and they were going to enjoy themselves to the fullest.


	4. The Honour of Fluffiest Butt was Maid for You

Magnolia woke to the sound of an alarm clock. They were never fun to wake up to, but this morning it felt especially loud.

 _Was it always this loud?_ she asked herself as she reached across to try and silence it. After a few failed attempts of doing it in the dark, she relented and forced her eyes to open so she could see the dastardly noise contraption. One word crossed her mind the moment she did that; ' _Mistake!_ ' The glaring sun was shining right into her eyes at this angle, and she recoiled with disgust like a vampire would when it was struck with daylight. On the second open-eyed attempt, she silenced the machine, but gasped in horror as she read the digits on the digital face:

 **08:06**.

The café she worked at opened at 09:00, and there was always at _least_ one patron at the door when the clock struck nine. She threw herself up out of bed and went to go wake Duke up to ask him for a lift to work. Then she remembered: Duke wasn't here anymore.

Duke Azul was Maggie's boyfriend for over two years, and they were such a strong couple in many people's eyes. But Duke had a masterfully hidden side to himself that only Maggie got the "pleasure" of seeing, at least to her knowledge. He wasn't physically abusive, she would have cut him off right away if he was. Or better yet, get Neo, Fox and their team to knock some sense into him before leaving him on the street to think about his actions. Instead, he was mentally taxing to the Faunus. Everything he did was almost always for him, always for his own gains, but it was never obvious, at least not from the start.

He manipulated her so subtly that it took her this long to figure it out. And when she did start piecing it together, he dialled it up to eleven and _then_ started to really hurt her feelings. Ignoring her in the morning; waking up, getting food, washing, preparing for the day and leaving without even uttering a single word to her; refusing to explain what he was doing or why for anything, so she would be guessing and second guessing as to where he was and what he was doing; flat out refusing anything from her by the end. She thought she was in love with him, but by the end the Arctic Fox Faunus was at the end of her proverbial tether and had had enough.

She wanted him out. He wouldn't let it go.

He dragged the whole thing out for months, and in the end, she almost gave in. But her colleagues from the café banded together and bought him out of the flat they shared, and the next time she arrived home after that transaction went through, all his stuff (and some of hers) was gone from the flat.

That was three weeks ago, and it still felt empty in the flat. Even with the replenishment of her furniture.

She was glad to be rid of him, she was happier without him - especially given the low level racism he threw her way nearer the end of their time together - but that still didn't take away from the fact that Duke had been a big part of her life for 26 long months, and those memories they shared - the good ones, at least - weren't going to fade into obscurity overnight.

 _Keep moving forward, Mags._ She pushed herself past the mental wall she was building and got ready for the day.

By the time 8:52 has come around, Magnolia had rocked up to the café looking ready for the day, even though she was without her normal "keep me going coffee". But the first half an hour was normally slow, so she could make herself one and keep taking sips from it every time there was a lull in customers to perk her up. At least, that was the theorised plan.

Seeing more than just the average early bird at the entrance shook her up slightly, as there was an entire entourage of people queuing to get in. She hurried around the back and let herself in.

"Morning all," she called out as she entered, hurrying herself to get rid of her thin summer coat as to not make it look like she hadn't seen everyone outside.

"You're getting sloppy, Maggie," the owner Pol semi-joked, "you're usually so punctual."

"Blame it on muscle memory for still thinking I can still get lifts into work every once in a while." The grey bearded man stopped there. He knew Duke was still a sensitive topic with the Arctic Fox Faunus and he would much rather her be late on occasion than not turn up at all.

"Alright, but try and sort it out for the future, alright?" She nodded, a silent thanks for his leniency, and readied herself for the day. It felt like it was going to be a day of smooth sailing and that it would fly by, especially with the influx of customers waiting at the door.

* * *

The day was dragging by, even with the influx of customers at the door at opening time. After the party of fifteen first thing, who were all coming in for some hearty food (clearly, they'd never been to this café before) before heading off to watch a tournament in Vacuo that night, there were non-stop customers after that for the next four hours. Their orders were mostly small things like milkshakes or tea cakes or muffins with intermittent larger orders, so it wasn't _too_ bad, but there were enough of the smaller orders for it to become boring to the point of beyond boredom, and she was working in near monotony for the sake of it. Then at 13:08, dead. The customers now in the café were mostly solitary people who were sitting on their Scroll with a single cup and occasionally a small bite to eat, passing their Saturday away quietly staring out the windows or at their screens, then leaving as soon as they were done. There were hardly any new customers coming in at all, and the infrequent ones that did come in were approached by others that worked there before she got a chance. Not that Magnolia minded, it just meant there wasn't a lot to do. At least there was time for her to wake up and have an early afternoon tea break to keep her sane. But that confused her even more, as that break flew by despite nothing happening over it in contrast to the slow drag of how the day _had_ been progressing up until that point. It seemed the Gods of Remnant were playing a cruel game today, and she was their unwilling pawn.

At least there was some saving grace to end her torture.

At 16:37, twenty three minutes before she clocked out for the day, she received a message on her Scroll.

**Neo:  
_Hey x_**

There was a face she hadn't seen in a little while. The Faunus made an excuse to get out of the public eye for a minute or two, then replied to the tri coloured woman.

**Maggie:  
_Hiya hun. Can't talk much, at work. Done in 25 though._**

A mere moment later, before she even got to the door, her Scroll went again.

**Neo:  
_No worries, you answered my question :) x_**

Magnolia giggled to herself, sliding her Scroll away and returning inside to deal with the limited number of customers waiting to be served. At least she had a potential something to look forward to in 25 minutes.

The Arctic Fox eventually clocked out at 17:14 after one customer came in at 16:54 and near enough demanded to Pol that he be served by her. She didn't mind, it usually meant another person's worth of tip, and he promised he "wouldn't be too long". Emphasis on the word 'usually'.

He ordered a Large Neapolitan Iced Shake - a cruel reminder to the Faunus that she could potentially be somewhere else right now with someone she actually _wanted_ to spend time with - two blueberry muffins and four pieces of shortbread that he promptly crushed up and sprinkled on top of his milkshake. In all his idiocy for his requests afterwards, that was something worth noting and Maggie jotted it down on her notepad to hand to Pol on clocking out. But after he had ordered he "politely" insisted that she stayed until he was done with his milkshake, just in case he enjoyed it so much that he would like another to take away. He also reminded her, in a less than politically correct way, that she'd be missing out on a tip if she left. Not that she minded missing out on one for this guy, having backtracked on her previous thoughts and would instead let someone else take the tip so that she could leave, and especially after he mentioned it in such a way that was derogatory, calling out her Faunus heritage in a less than stellar light. Her approach to him afterwards was much less amicable after that, and once all was said and done, he left her with a single Lien as a tip.

To say it was not worth her time was the understatement of the day, but she was given that extra 15 minutes as overtime and essentially compensation for the customer's behaviour. As she walked out, handing the owner her little note on the 'shortbread sprinkles' as she noted it down as, she was greeted by a woman waiting on the opposite side of the road in a pastel blue knee length summer dress and a pair of white summer pumps with a small white sling bag. On seeing the Faunus exit the establishment she smiled and got her Scroll out of her little bag.

"Hey there hun. Sorry I'm late, had an ass of a customer at the end." They greeted each other properly with a friendly little peck on the other's cheek.

**Old looking guy, kind of tall, bit of a beer belly?**

"That's the one. He was in there making stupid requests, was racist, and only left me 1 Lien tip after having a Large Neo Shake, two muffins and four shortbreads!" Whilst she always found it cute how the Arctic Fox nicknamed the milkshake she so frequently bought in there a 'Neo Shake', the mute furrowed her brow in disgust at the man's actions.

**What an ass! Did you tell Pol about the racist comments?**

"Of course, but only after he went. Did you see where he went?"

**Left**

"Then we're going right." Neo smiled and followed her taller friend's lead, deliberately putting herself on her left so that her engagement ring was hidden from the Faunus' view. It had been two weeks since the proposal at the after party, and this was the first time the pair had properly seen and caught up with each other since late April / early May, so this was going to be new news for Magnolia.

They walked in relative silence for most of the time, not only because of Neo's inability to be anything but silent but because they always found it easier to walk where they needed to go then have their conversation. It wasn't that they couldn't, they just chose not to. The pair chose to have dinner out in Vale early, something that Neo had pre-warned her team about when she left to see Maggie and said to assume she wasn't eating with them tonight, settling down in a noodle house not too far from Vale's main square. It was one Neo insisted they went to because they had cocktails, a choice the Faunus gladly complied with after the day she'd had.

"So, how's life been treating you Neo?" Maggie began once they were shown to their seats and their drink orders taken.

**Life's been pretty good recently**

It was subtle, but Neo kept her left hand under the table.

**The team all graduated two weeks ago.**

"Congratulations! You deserve it, after what you had been through before them."

**Yeah, we really came a long way. We even graduated with S Tier Status**

"Holy shit," the Faunus stared at her friend in disbelief, "that's incredible Neo. S Tiers are the best of the best, aren't they?" Rather than type out a response, the ice cream girl nodded, a smile on her face. "Wow. And I tapped that." The comment broke Neo's composure and she laughed silently at the suddenness of the statement. Magnolia started laughing too, although she was saddened by the fact she was the only person she heard. It always saddened her, it had for two years.

**And I tapped that. On that note, how's Duke been recently?**

****The mood shifted on Maggie's side the table noticeably. Her face, bright with smiles a moment ago, suddenly turned sour and dark at the mention of his name. As the drinks were delivered for the pair, a Night and Day cocktail for Neo and a Snow Cap for Maggie, the tri coloured girl shifted uncomfortably in her seat, wanting to say or do something, having known she most likely hit a nerve she wasn't supposed to hit. Neo cocked her head, mouthing her friend's name, the best and only thing she could reasonably do at this point.

"Duke and I split up three weeks ago." Neo's eyes swapped instantly from their usual colours to vanilla white, her right hand covering her mouth as a silent gasp escaped her, her ring finger still hiding the surprise this whole thing had been for out of the Faunus' sight line. Maggie continued before the mute had a chance to type up anything to reply with. "It hasn't been a slow process, nor has it been a healthy one. He... he'd been manipulating me for ages, but it was so discreet that I never realised until recently when I looked back and saw the signs. We'd been arguing quite intensely for the past months, and eventually I called it off, but he wouldn't leave. It took everyone chipping in to do it, but eventually we bought him out of the flat. But when he left, he took some of my shit too, including that framed photo you got me for my birthday last year that I loved of us."

The image in question was taken at Neo's birthday earlier that year. Maggie and Duke had both been invited, although Duke couldn't attend for reasons he, quote, "wasn't going to tell her about, no matter how much she'd ask" - a red flag as to something not being right on second look based solely on wording alone - so the Arctic Fox came along by herself. With it being Neo's party, the rest of Team CFVYN were there too. Neo had her party on one of the beaches on the Northern Anima coastline, and with her birthday being in April it meant the place was practically empty, most people waiting for the warmer Summer months to roll around to enjoy the sand and sea. Velvet volunteered to remain sober so that she could take photos of the evening, as she hadn't been feeling too great that week anyway and didn't want to risk vacating her stomach at the mute's 27th Birthday Party. It wasn't a momentous milestone to be passing, but it was the first birthday she'd be spending with the people she knew she'd be close to for the rest of her life.

When the party started, everyone who was invited was having fun - with the exception of Ruby and Weiss, who were _trying_ to enjoy themselves but were still in that awkward stage of not doing anything regarding their relationship on Jacques Schnee's orders. And when the sun started setting, Neo and Maggie went for a walk along the beach together, just to take a break as the Faunus was feeling a little down not having her boyfriend here with her. Velvet followed and caught the perfect picture of the pair sitting together on a rock formation, both staring out to sea with a glorious setting sun providing natural lighting for the shot and its composition. She didn't show Neo until the day after, and the tri coloured girl loved it so much that she got a copy on her Scroll and got it printed and framed for Maggie to have as a present for her own birthday mid-May.

They both agreed it was a beautiful shot of them, and it was arguably the Faunus' favourite picture of her ever, even though it was only her back and part of her tail visible in the shadows of her back silhouetted against the deep oranges and reds of a setting sun. It looked planned with professional lighting and a set, but the natural setting, lighting and everything made the fact it was 100% natural lighting and scenery all the more amazing.

"He doesn't even need that fucking photo," the magnolia haired Faunus commented with spite in her voice, "he just took it because he knew how much it meant to me and you, he knew how irreplaceable it is." By now, Maggie spoke through gritted teeth in sheer anger at the situation. "I'm just so... angry at what he did to me, and after all this time I'm now seeing what an ass he'd been to me and the lies he was feeding you as well." Neo couldn't stay where she was any longer, risking her friend seeing her surprise early for the sake of comforting her. It didn't cross Neo's mind to illusion the ring out of sight, she had a bigger problem to sort out.

The ice cream girl stood and closed the distance between her and Maggie, wrapping the Arctic Fox Faunus in the tightest hug she could muster. On doing so, it was as if she squeezed the tears out from the woman, for she began quietly sobbing into the smaller woman's shoulder.

"Why didn't I see it sooner?" the fair haired Faunus asked of herself. "Why was I blinded by my feelings to not see that he-" Her ramblings were silenced with a single finger from Neo on her lips. Neo shook her head, then smiled and sat down, getting her Scroll and typing something for Maggie to see, all while the bushy tailed girl sat there in silence, except for the occasional hiccup from trying to keep her crying quiet.

**Move on. I know it's easier said than done, but you've got your life to live. You can't let one thing get you down. Velvet still has that photo somewhere, so we can replace it with an identical one. Or we can create a new photo to go up there, an even better one. How's that sound? x**

"Yeah... yeah, that sounds good." Neo grinned, happy her plan worked out. She leaned across and planted a simple kiss on her temple, causing the taller woman to start giggling at the action. "You need to watch out, people will start to think that we're a couple." Neo shrugged, placing another chaste kiss on the girl's cheek, earning more giggles from the Faunus. "Neo, seriously; stop. What would your boyfriend think?"

 _Well, talk about setting up the ball,_ she thought to herself. Neo shook her head, grin still adorning her face, and typed up a simple message for Magnolia on her Scroll.

**He's not my boyfriend anymore, he's my fiancé**

Maggie had to do not only a double, but a triple take to make sure she was seeing that right, but when she was convinced she was seeing it right she looked up at the mute with anticipation and glee in her carolina blue eyes. Neo's grin grew as she finally showed her friend her left hand, revealing the jewelled ring gracing her fourth finger. It took everything and more for the Faunus not to scream in delight, but that didn't stop the high pitched squeal that pained a couple of her kin in the noodle bar with greater hearing than herself.

"Neo, that's amazing!" she cried, jumping up and hugging the woman. "How? When? Please, enlighten me! I want details, I _need_ details!"

The ice cream girl did just that, explaining to the Faunus in detail everything from the initial discussion herself and Fox had, to her late Uncle Lang's blessing, to the talk with the rest of her team; all of this over two large bowls of noodles and more than a couple of cocktails each.

"So, then what did you do?" Maggie asked, her fourth drink in and slightly tipsy at this point, but still in control enough to not be her usual, all over the place drunk self Neo had seen and subsequently had to deal with on at least two occasions.

 **We played it off as if we wernt but we were** Neo replied, her not-quite-drunken-yet-definitely-not-sober state making her miss the odd letter or mixing up words every now and again.

**Both of us hid our rings and I snuck in a unrefined air Dust crystal as well. We were there for a little while before heading up to the top balcony and I threw the Dust at his feet.**

"Wouldn't that send him flying?"

**That was the point ;) He went flying to the floor below and we got everyones attention as a result**

"Wait," she clarified, taking a sip of her drink as she kept the silence going for a little longer, "so you actively drew attention to the proposal, doing it in front of the entirety of the attending people from your year?" Neo nodded. "Why? Why not do it intimately?"

**Coco, Yatsu and Velvet all already knew we were going to propose at some point in the future. We wanted to surprise them, and we to have some fun as well. Plus, everyone in our year is going to remember when Fox and I got engaged at the graduation party.**

The Faunus rolled her eyes, failing to keep a grin off her face. "Of course, that makes sense. I don't know why I put it past the two of you to do something outlandish like this."

**Well, the wedding itself is going to be a lot less so. We don't want anything too crazy**

"Right, so the over the top proposal was to balance out the calm wedding. I got ya."

**But I need some help with it**

"Like what?"

**Well,** ** somebody ** **needs to be my maid of honour. I can't ask by brother Vinnie because he doesn't have the form for a dress. None of the teams in years below are that close to us, apart from Team HLQN, but I want them as guests. And Coco and Velvet have their own plans for that day, so I can't ask them either, lest ruin their moment in the spotlight that day, whenever it will be - I haven't decided yet**

The gears were working overtime in Maggie's head, trying to suss out what Neo was insinuating. The mute beat her to the punch, handing over her Scroll one last time.

**What I'm asking Mags is would you please be the Maid of Honour at my wedding?**

The tri coloured girl wasn't prepared for a Faunus to come flying at her for an overzealous hug, yet here they were; Neo now lying on the floor having been thoroughly jumped by her bushy tailed friend.

"Neo, it would mean the world to me. Thank you." Maggie looked up, then realised that they weren't in the comfort of her flat or in a room of any kind with even an iota of privacy, therefore there were a lot of people watching as two women were lying on the floor in a slightly compromising position. The Faunus sped back to her seat in record time, her face a stronger pink than part of Neo's cocktail. "Sorry." Neo brushed it off.

**You were excited, you get to do that**

The pair giggled at her reaction, one silently, and enjoyed the rest of their evening together. They parted ways over an hour after Neo's request for Maggie to be her Maid of Honour, the Faunus heading back to her flat much happier than when she left it earlier that morning, whilst Neo returned to their dorm at Beacon, all whilst it was still light out despite being 20:01. The team were still in the market for a shared accommodation that would be able to house all five of them together, but for the time being they had another four weeks at Beacon. That time was being used to find somewhere before they were kicked out of the room for good by the teachers - most likely Goodwitch - to make way for new students in September, and as such they would have to set up shop at one of their parents' house; it was an option they didn't want to utilise, but it was there in case.

"Evening hun," came the copper haired boy's greeting as Neo walked through the door, he and everyone else sat on their respective beds, "how'd it go?"

{" _Fantastic. She agreed, so we'll need to include her onto the list of people we'll need to invite. That just lea-_ "}

"Can it, Shortcake." Neo glared at her team leader, disapprovingly. Normally, the nickname was fine. Now, not so much; although she had no idea why that urge to react negatively suddenly came to be. "I saw that list ready to spill out just there. You're thinking too far ahead; and yes, that's a thing you can do." The mute didn't appreciate the obvious being stated to her, especially now when she was mildly inebriated from her cocktails, choosing to pull a face that said, 'do you think I didn't know that?' "Take some time to let the action settle before jumping to the next one. _We_ need to go over colours, venue, time and date together, and that's not a job for 20:20 at night." Neo's shoulders sagged, sighing in defeat.

"I know you want things to go right Neo, and we want them to go right for you and Fox too, but over-preparing is almost as bad as under-preparing." Velvet said, furthering her Mate's comment.

"Velvet and Coco are right Neo," the group's tank added, "and we have other things we need to focus on first. Whilst I am happy we have your Maid of Honour, we need to prioritise getting out of this room and finding a place for us to live - long term or otherwise." Neo's resolve crumbled with every word spoken, realising how selfish she was being.

"Listen Ni, we're not going to stop you from getting married. Why would we? We just need to take our time getting our collective lives sorted first. It'll be easier to plan the wedding knowing how much we have in the CFVY Pot to spend, as opposed to spending it all and then having to go back to our parents' houses." The tri coloured girl nodded slowly. "Neo." She looked at him, and saw him extending his arms out to offer her a hug. She accepted, falling into his arms and melting slightly into the embrace. ~ _We're going to get married. I don't want us to rush, I want it to be the best day of our lives._ ~

~ _I get it,_ ~ she admitted, ~ _it_ _ **may**_ _be the four Night and Days I had talking and wanting this to fly by, so I think I'll sleep them off and I'll get back to you tomorrow.~_

~ _Yeah, sounds good. Get some rest, and we'll talk tomorrow. I love you Neo. You know that, right?_ ~

~ _Of course, you wally. I love you too._ ~ She leaned up to press her lips to his, then stood and wandered to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When she'd gotten changed and came back the four hadn't moved much. Fox was sitting less central in his bed, the other couple had shuffled marginally and Yatsuhashi, naturally, hadn't budged an inch. The only major difference was that all the lights had been dimmed so that Neo could get some rest should she so wish it, a gesture she much appreciated from her team. She lay in bed and dosed off within a few minutes, surrounded by her closest friends and her fiancé.

She'd done this 19 times now since Fox proposed - falling asleep next to her fiancé, that is - but she couldn't help but feel completely satisfied at the thought of her life coming together so perfectly in the end.


	5. The Best Day of Their Lives

Fox woke up alone in bed.

That, for once, was a good thing. It meant nothing had happened last night. Or if it did, nothing went further than... wherever they went. He couldn't remember exactly. That simultaneously was and wasn't the best idea they'd ever had, and funnily enough, they had Oakley Russet and Cyprus Alistair to thank for that. The whole excursion the night prior was their final act as "Fathers of Unmarried Children", so they brought all the boys in attendance a couple of rounds each at the bar.

It was their way of bidding farewell to their final night as friends brought together by their daughter and oldest son respectively, and welcoming in the new life tomorrow as relatives, connected through the marriage of Fox and Neo this afternoon.

Oakley and Cyprus each had a fair few drinks last night, even finishing off the ones that others didn't. Yatsuhashi kept up with them both, but being nearly a foot taller and much beefier than everybody there meant that the same volume of alcohol that rendered the two Fathers worse for wear when they called it a night only left him with a minor wobble of the horizon and a tickly nose. He couldn't be too drunk or be hungover either, what with being the Best Man and all, or else there was no guarantee that the day would go smoothly on their end. He had tremendous faith in Fox, given that he had the least to drink out of everyone, but Yatsuhashi would never let this day go horribly for him, else he'd have two bridesmaids and a bride to contend with, and the man knew that he'd lose against them.

Neo's brother Vinnie had joined them too, having been given temporary leave from his duties as an Atlas Huntsman to attend the wedding; he'd managed to secure getting the day before, the day of and the day after the wedding off as leave before having to return by mid-afternoon on the day after that. It was a generous amount of time, and one he was thankful for. Because he didn't need to return to Atlas until two days after the wedding day, Vinnie had far more to drink last night than he usually would. He let himself cut loose a little bit; considering he didn't have high-ranking officials breathing down his neck at every bar on site and in the immediate working province of the Kingdom, he was thankful. But as arguably the biggest lightweight in that bachelor group last night, his hangover would be the worst of everyone.

At least, for the guys. He had no idea what Neo's half of the wedding party were like this morning.

The reality of it all suddenly hit Fox harder than last night's alcohol did on that thought - he was getting married today!

The months that had passed since the proposal seemed to have flown by, but now here he was. In their initial planning stages, the team collectively agreed that they would aim for a mid to late February wedding, that way they still might get the latter half of the winter snow or even the early parts of spring blossom to colour their wedding day. Also, it meant that their guests - including other student teams from Beacon - could take some time away during their mid-semester break. And while the prices for everything would still be high, they wouldn't be as extortionate as they would be in the Valentine's Day wedding boom the weeks prior. That gave them six months - give or take a week - to plan the event and get everything in order. Because of their effectiveness as a team, the entire thing was all arranged by the time the New Year had rolled around, except for finalising the suits for Fox, Yatsuhashi and the rest of the male wedding party.

That was being done once January was well underway though, and sure enough, they had everything fitted and ready three days before Valentine's Day.

Neo's party and Fox's party both split off from one another two days ago in preparation for the big day.

Neo's party consisted of herself, Maid of Honour Maggie, Bridesmaids Velvet, Jade and Coco, the two Mothers of - Yubae Russet and Inbar Alistair - and one of the page boys Fenneck Alistair, Fox's youngest brother.

Fox's consisted of those previously mentioned, and Vulpé Alistair - the middle of the Alistair siblings who was older than his younger brother of 11 by five years. Vulpé did not join the adults for drinks that evening, instead remaining in the hotel room they'd got for him and told him to order room service for his dinner and to go to sleep when he felt like it, so long as it was before they got back.

The soon-to-be-married couple had planned that they had to be away from each other for the week of the wedding due to their ability to hear the other's thoughts, but as Maggie and Yatsuhashi both pointed out, they couldn't reasonably do that, so they settled on two days before the wedding. It was agreed that they'd stay at someone else's house on the first night, then the night before the wedding each party would go to separate hotels, with Neo and her group getting one closer to the venue because of her dress and whatnot, so that there were no accidental run-ins in the days immediately prior. It also meant that if anyone had left anything at a house, they could return there without the worry of walking in when one of the others were there.

Everything had gone off without a hitch, and the day was upon them.

Fox rolled out of bed and eyed the digital clock that stared back at him from his Scroll screen. He was comforted by the sweet sight of 9:26, meaning he'd still managed to get a decent night's sleep without waking up far too early or late. The only downside was that he now only had 33 minutes to get downstairs for breakfast before they closed that off to make way for the regular meals for the day, and right now he was craving for a good breakfast.

The copper haired man dressed in his casual wear from last night and headed down, thinking he'd be one of the last, if not the very last, from his wedding party up considering the time they let him sleep in to. When he got down to the restaurant, sure enough, he saw all five of them sitting down around a single table merrily eating away at their morning food.

"The man of the day arrives!" Cyprus declared as he spotted his son approaching.

"I don't need to be reminded Dad, and can you not yell that out in front of everyone here please?"

"What's wrong Fox," Vulpé taunted, "upset that Daddy's embarrassing you in front of all these strangers?"

"No, I'm crying for you."

The retort brought the youngest Alistair there to come out of his taunting mood, swapping to curiosity on a dime. "Me?"

"Yeah, you. I'm sad that I get the privilege of having my Dad embarrass me in public; you just need to go outside to do that yourself." The two Russets laughed under their breaths, and the Alistair patriarch smiled. Vulpé wasn't as impressed.

"Fox, I thought you were older and more mature than that," Yatsuhashi commented with folded arms, "why must you resort to childish taunting to win your argument?"

"Relax Yatsu; it's just a bit of sibling rivalry, I don't mean it really."

"I did..." Vulpé muttered.

The tank sighed. "I just want you to enjoy your day, and as such, I'd like the least amount of quarrelling so that there's no untimely death of a certain groom the day of his wedding."

"You worry too much Yatsuhashi, you need to relax a little." Oakley rested a hand on the taller young man's shoulder. "Besides, isn't it the job of the bride and groom to be nervous for the day ahead, rather than you?"

"I am not normally like this, Fox can attest to that."

"It's true."

"No, I worry because a certain heterochromatic bride-to-be has personally threatened me, stating that if anything happened to him between us leaving the house two days ago and this afternoon, she would personally see to it that each of us suffers a slow and agonising death. And she's starting with me." At once, the group were silenced. "I wouldn't put it past her to follow through on that threat either."

"But I haven't done anything," Vulpé fired off instantly, almost like a natural response to something going wrong around him.

"Correct me if I'm wrong Vulp, but weren't you just arguing with me?" The 16 year old hushed himself completely, not wishing to make his situation any worse. "Now, I'm going to grab myself some breakfast, and then we're going back to our rooms and getting ourselves ready."

* * *

Oakley pulled up in the car first, with Cyprus coming in after him. The venue was decently sized, a secluded little hall on the far side of Anima that was seemingly purpose-built for weddings. The grounds surrounding it were adorned with various trees blooming into life on this late February afternoon, their leaves or blossoms in full force by the time they'd arrived. Off to one side, there was a stream that flowed across the landscape, travelling on past their line of sight, but Fox knew from booking this place that it leads to a picturesque lake about half a mile downstream. The building itself was large enough for their congregation today, along with the room for the bride to wait patiently away from all prying eyes. Yatsuhashi even spotted their gazebo for afterwards, if this place was beautiful enough and spacious enough for both the ceremony and the reception - which it was - then why waste it?

Yatsuhashi, being the eyes for the groom, also spotted the cars the bride and bridesmaids arrived in on the opposite side of the hall, tucked away so that there was plenty of room for guests. Speaking of which...

As the groom's party left their cars, they spotted four of their guests already waiting outside.

"You realise _we're_ supposed to be here first, right? That's kind of the whole point; it's my wedding." Fox wore a slim charcoal grey three-piece suit, as did the rest of his party. The lapels were peaked in design with a fine top-stitching that ran along the rim of lapel in a slightly lighter colour than the suit itself. The top pocket of the jacket and the pockets of the waistcoat all had a slight colour difference to them, leaning more towards a standard grey rather than charcoal. Neo's friends at the fabric place were given the suits as soon as they were collected from the menswear store they got them from and, on Neo's request, changed the buttonhole colour to a bronze thread. This made it stand out much more, and tied in with their colour theme for the wedding, that being 'Caramel/Champagne'. The outfit was brought together with a white herringbone patterned shirt, some golden cufflinks, a caramel satin tie and a crisp white pocket hankie.

There were a few differences in a couple of people's attire, mostly the Groom and Best Man. For example, Yatsuhashi wore very specific novelty cufflinks that he, Coco and Velvet bought. The three of them searched on their Scroll one day when the engaged couple were off looking at venues for the wedding, and they came across these pins that were all coffee related. Naturally, Coco spent her money instantly on them for herself and her Life Mate to wear on their bridesmaid dresses, then searched around a little more and found that the company who created them also made that set in cufflink form. They were currently wearing their own coffee-related accessories, but nothing compared to what they found for the happy couple.

After the trio found their things and had them delivered (they got them sent to Team RWBY's dorm so that there was no questioning from Fox and/or Neo) they ran into a problem; what would they do for the big two to make them stand out? So, they searched and found nothing of interest for a very long time, but Yatsuhashi stumbled upon some more novelty cufflinks that were shaped like bowls of ice cream, albeit completely raw metallic in colour.

Fortunately, they happened to know someone who was really enthusiastic about weapons, forging and, most importantly, metalwork.

Ruby used her vast knowledge to add a layer of metallic automotive paint in a very subtle pink to get a base layer for the metal. Using some alcohol inks she found in the necessary colours, she finished it off and made them stand out with their vibrancy.

She creating ivory using mostly white and yellow, strawberry pink using the pink on offer remixed with white, and a brown from just using the brown ink, but mixed slightly with a yellow to produce a lighter more golden brown. Ruby honestly enjoyed the challenge and the time away from missions doing something other than twiddling her thumbs waiting for the next one.

Fox also had a slight difference in the waistcoat from the rest of his party, opting for an ivory one with a subtle, but still noticeable, striped pattern down it to set him further apart from the crowd.

"Well, if you're showing up after guests, that means your late to your own wedding; what's that saying about you to your future missus?" Yang shot back with a smirk.

"It's saying that I should have picked better guests." The two brawlers smiled at one another, hugging briefly. Yang was wearing a two piece formal navy shadow stripe ladies' suit, much to the initial dismay - but eventual acceptance of - from a certain ex-Heiress. So she didn't look too much like she was part of the wedding party, she had a lilac shirt on with a plum coloured tie on and some smartly polished black dress shoes. To add to the look, she also wore a golden pocket square, a colour scheme her Mate matched. "It's good to see you all made it. You all look amazing."

"Thanks, Fox. We wouldn't have missed it for anything," came Blake's reply. Her outfit complemented her Mate's one, a deep plum coloured shoulder maxi dress that had a faint abstract pattern at the bottom in a more prominent royal blue, the purple being the inspiration for Yang's neckwear colour as the blonde knew that matching a tie to a dress is more straightforward than the other way around. The dress rested high on her left shoulder and dropped down to shin level, the parting almost at the front, slightly favouring the right side. She accessorised with a much more pronounced blue handbag, golden eye shadow and a golden bow in her hair (but not covering her ears - it felt a little weird to her, putting a bow back on her head after she'd had her bow off for a while now) to match Yang's gold coloured accessory. All of this rounded up with some plain black heels that brought her to just above Yang's height, not that the brawler was complaining much, and a fresh new haircut - her hair was cut short to a bob, curled at the ends to still give it that wavy look she had when it was much longer.

"Seriously though, we _couldn't_ have missed it," added their team leader, "Weiss was up and ordering us around at six in the morning. It's not like it takes long to get here."

"I was only being prepared. Besides, your sister was insistent on taking her motorcycle here, so we needed transportation. And I was not willing to get into your Dad's car with this on, as generous as your father's offer was."

Weiss and Ruby's outfits weren't as coordinated and complementary as their teammates' were. They both had dresses on, but Weiss' was a mid-length ghost white number that faded into a duck egg green at the hems and a similar ghost white coloured jacket with a rich crimson lining. The look was very much akin to her combat attire at Beacon in look and design, only this time without the Schnee Crest anywhere one her physical attire. She also wore white high heels, her hair in its signature ponytail off to one side in a braid (partially the reason she wanted to be up early - her hair hadn't grown shorter), and her apple pendant necklace that never left her. Only this time, she also wore a second pendant on the chain - a simple rose, gifted to her by her girlfriend on the first anniversary of them officially being together - a date they decided was their first kiss back when Neo attacked, and Ruby was sent to the Infirmary with a dislocated arm.

Speaking of Ruby, the younger team leader's dress was a rosewood coloured sleeveless dress that fell to knee length with a near-transparent mesh at the top in a similar vein as her partner's prom dress back in their first year at Beacon. Because it was much colder now than it was back then, Ruby wore a pair of tights that complimented the colour of her dress, her signature ruby red hood and some strong red pumps, much to her relief. She hated heels, and after a while, her team eventually gave up on trying to get her to wear them. But Weiss did manage to get her to wear a pair of earrings for the wedding, even though the now-adult had never worn them before.

Weiss gave her a pair of snowflake earrings, a gift that matched Ruby's rose pendant for her. But these were not Schnee snowflakes; they were simple, run of the mill snowflakes with tiny diamonds in the centre. Ruby commented on how they seemed like they'd cost a lot, what with the diamonds and all, but Weiss promised she didn't spend lots on them. She was lying, of course, but the thought was there.

"Regardless," Fox said, walking towards the main entrance of the hall with his wedding party and Team RWBY in tow, "you're all here now, and that's what we all wanted. It just means you've got more waiting around than you probably would have had if you'd turned up on time rather than ridiculously early." He said that last part in jest, and for the most part, RWBY took it as such. The only real exception to that being Weiss (naturally), but he was greeted more with a roll of the eyes, a soft sigh and a smirk as opposed to the utter grilling he might have received three and a half years ago when she first started, and on a day like today he was thankful for such a luxury.

"Nervous?" Blake asked.

"Like you wouldn't believe!" he spouted out before he even gave his mind a chance to register the question. In all fairness, it wasn't wrong when it made him say that. "I'm getting married. I probably won't realise I've done this until next week maybe. It's just... all so amazingly scary that this is happening right now."

Yang rested her hand on his shoulder. "You've got this Fox. I have no idea how you five managed to pull everything off you did when at Beacon, but this is a testament to the fact you made it here and did great doing so. I mean, I thought _our_ lives there were crazy as shit, but clearly, we were getting second fiddle to your insanity."

"And you three as well; writing and publishing a book in the space of a few months while still at Beacon is a feat we could never have done. You can't give us all the credit for doing outlandish things."

"Um, Fox," Ruby started shyly, but eventually built up to her usual self over the course of the sentence, "you fought a weird rubbery armed Grimm than no one had fought and survived before, and survived it nearly unscathed; you battled a squid monster Grimm that could control people's minds and came out with a win; you fought off a giant swarm of Lancers without anyone being majorly hurt-"

 _They're called "Fuck-No's",_ he commented to himself.

"-and to do all of that and come out as S Tiers; how can we _not_ give you all the credit?!"

"Rubes' got a point, Fox," Blake commented, Yang's pet nickname for her sister one of the things that had seeped through over the past few years ever since they'd Mated, "we have a _Schnee_ on our team, and we don't think we can hope to hit anything greater than an A Tier. You'd also think you have the slight disadvantage of having five members as opposed to four; but honestly, if Neo weren't so insistent on striving to do her best and not bring you down, it would have been one. Instead, she's been an asset to you no end."

"And soon she's going to be your wife! Oh, this is so exciting!" Ruby cried in glee, bouncing up and down as she had done plenty of times before whenever she got too enthusiastic. Fox, along with the rest of Ruby's team, just laughed it off, and when she came down from that little high, she was embarrassed initially but laughed it off too.

"Anyway, you four head inside, mingle around while everybody else gets here; we'll finish getting prepped up and join you at the ceremony."

"Sounds like a plan. We'll be there supporting you all the way." Yang flashed a smile at the groom and started heading inside, the rest of the team bidding their goodbyes and following suit.

* * *

The final hour ticked by, at which point more and more of the guests began filing into the hall, and Fox was - for lack of a better phrase - bricking it.

"Everything will be okay Fox," his Best Man assured him, "we've gone over this."

"It's actually happening this time though Yatsu," he responded, slight panic in his voice. "In 30 minutes, Orchid _Alistair_ will be walking out of here."

"And I am very happy for you that this is happening."

"...I'm panicking."

"Fox..."

"Was this a good idea? I hope it was a good id-"

"Fox!" Firm hands grabbed his shoulders, halting his rambling immediately. "Yourself and Neo have nothing to worry about, everything will work out, and once it gets underway, you'll remember this day for the rest of your lives." His expression hardened. "But you can't do that if you panic yourself into a mess. So, stop it!" A deep booming voice demanding you do something right in your ear is a pretty easy way to make sure it's done, and that was indeed the case here. The Groom's panicking was silenced, and a calm took over in its presence.

"Thanks, Big Guy." Fox peered out of the door he and Yatsuhashi were behind, obscured from the view of the guests until the ceremony began properly, and saw that everybody that had been invited was there. "Looks like this is it."

"Are you ready Fox?"

"Still no," he answered as he opened the door and walked out to the central part of the hall. The crowd took to their seats the moment they noticed him, conversations fizzling out into nothing as the ceremony began. But unlike tradition, Fox instead sat down immediately on the side where the Bridesmaids would typically be sat, with Yatsuhashi taking his rightful place on the Groom's side of the hall. In truth, there was no 'Bride's side' or 'Groom's side' in the traditional sense; it was just where the Groomsmen and Bridesmaids were sat. Everyone else was encouraged to sit wherever they wanted to.

Neo also entered from the opposite side of the hall, sitting down in between Yatsuhashi and her father, and that's what caused a lot of hushed whispers to start spreading through the crowd. She looked completely different, far more of a change than anyone else had ever really seen from her, ever since her costume disguises. Using her Illusions, the mute had made it appear as if she was wearing a pearl pink sundress with spaghetti straps, a white belt, some white pumps and a thin pink clutch bag. What was more striking was the fact she had seemingly grown a couple of extra inches, she'd changed her hair so that it was entirely strawberry blonde, and her eyes were a piercing sea blue. If it weren't for the fact most of the Groomsmen on Fox's side and all of Neo's Bridesmaids knew, everyone would have been confused as to why this person was sitting where she was at a time like this.

In all honesty, it was to add to the surprise of later when the big reveal came to light.

When she was seated - with a quick turn to Yatsuhashi, her eyes flittering to their usual colours and a wink before they swapped back to blue - Yatsuhashi nodded and gave the signal. On cue, Velvet and Coco walked down the aisle in their Bridesmaid dresses, hand in hand, straight up to the altar. The dresses were shin length A-Line Chiffon dresses in a champagne colour with a scoop neckline and a high waist strap in a similar hue as the dress. There were also ruffle flowers on the waist strap; while Jade and the 'Mothers Of' had champagne flowers, Coco and Velvet had coffee brown flowers and Maggie had pearl pink flowers as the Maid of Honour. They were the only other bits of major colour difference in the outfits for the girls, as everything else stuck with the Caramel/Champagne colour scheme. The two Mates' shoulders were exposed in these dresses, revealing their matching Mate Marks. They'd been completed in the weeks after the proposal, binding the two of them for life. Rather than before, where it was two individual emblems that blended into one, now Velvet's Heart and Coco's Cross-Hairs truly became one, combining the two into a unique single image on their bodies. Around their necks, they each bore a simple chain with a simple golden ring on it - their Partner's ring.

"Apologies for high jacking the wedding guys," Coco said to the crowd, arguably not in the least bit sorry, "but we had always planned to do this." The comment earned a polite laugh from the crowd.

"As you may be aware," the priest began, "Faunus relationships and partnerships are much different to our own. These two are, by law, already bound together and are married in all legal senses due to their Mating. However, when discussing the arrangement for this wedding, this was one thing these two fine women in front of me wished to take place, as did the Bride and Groom, in case you were wondering. They wished merely to present each other with their rings in front of witnesses so that all, not just the Faunus, could recognise their status as an official married couple. So, with that in mind; Coco Adel, your ring for Ms. Scarlatina."

"Velvet, I never knew what a joy this would be. Becoming your Mate is something I shall never regret as long as we live, and these rings are only here to symbolise it. You know how I feel, and I want to spend every day feeling like this." The softer eyes of Velvet were already watery, but Coco remained strong(er) by keeping them at bay a little while. The ring slid onto the Faunus' finger perfectly, the pair having been fitted when Fox and Neo went to get theirs done.

"And Velvet Scarlatina, if you would like to present Ms. Adel with your ring for her."

"Coco. What more can I say that my Mark or I haven't already said before? I love you with everything I have. I love you for everything you do. Some places will hate and discriminate against us because it is a Faunus and a Human, or two women, or something else. I don't care anymore. I used to, but you changed that; I love you for that and so much more." As the rings were slipped on, the pair held hands as the final part was said. Velvet's camera flashed as Jade had been entrusted with the photography duties until such a time as they were in the reception.

"In the eyes of the Maidens and the Gods, I pronounce this couple married. Congratulations to Mrs. and Mrs. Scarlatina!" Applause from the crowd burst forward as the pair kissed. Technically they've been 'married' for months now, and this was just the official part. But having this happen to them - the room full of people clapping for them - was so emotional that both of them started to tear up. Blake and Yang's excessive cheering for them turned those tears into laughter as they walked down the aisle again, hand in hand, officially married. Coco spotted Dolly and her Father, Rodney Adel, in the crowd and smiled at them as she passed. They reached the main door, but stopped and split apart, Coco going right, and Velvet left. As they did that, Fox made his way to the stage and stood to wait for the main event.

Neo waited a couple of seconds before standing up with her Father by her side. They walked separately up to the door, Neo going through first and Oakley following a second afterwards.

~ _This is it: the big moment._ ~ Fox grinned at the distant voice of his soon-to-be wife in his head through the wall.

Music started playing, and everyone stood.

Neo and Oakley stepped around the corner they'd hidden behind, arms linked together. The smile on Oakley's face showed how proud he was of his daughter at this moment. Neo still was in her disguised outfit, but as she started walking, she slowly began to shed the illusion she'd cast over herself, and she let her real wedding dress been seen for the first time; herself, Bridesmaids and Maid of Honour notwithstanding.

Her sundress became a much longer white wedding dress of her own design and creation, with a fit and flare style skirt and an ombré at the bottom that turned to a pronounced cream colour at its base. The spaghetti straps faded away completely, as did the square neckline, both replaced instead with a semi-sweetheart neckline that left the mute's collar and uppermost cleavage exposed tastefully. Her bodice had a boning style, replacing the belt from before yet still keeping the shape of the body it showed from earlier. Her strawberry blonde hair changed to it's much more recognisable pink and brown, only this time it was in a braided bun at the back of her head that alternated in colour with every braid. After that appeared, her simple veil materialised as well, covering her face and with very little train - and what was there didn't even reach the floor. Her pumps disappeared, instead becoming a pair of elegant white heels, explaining her sudden height gain. And lastly, her clutch bag became a bouquet of cream coloured roses and white orchids.

Gasps and utterances of amazement were heard for the entirety of the walk up to the altar, even over the music.

When Oakley gave his daughter away to Fox, it was unmistakable that his eyes were watering. The copper haired boy simply nodded as a sign of his gratitude. Oakley responded in the same fashion before taking his seat.

~ _I know you wanted that to be your Uncle Lang,_ ~ Fox mentioned to her as he removed her veil, ~ _but I know he's watching down and smiling on this day. He'll still be here._ ~ Neo smiled, her own eyes faltering and tearing up. As the congregation sat down, the ceremony began.

Everything ran smoothly, the initial part over and done with in what seemed like a blink of an eye. But when Fenneck presented them with their rings, and the vows began, that is when time seemingly slowed to a complete crawl.

"Orchid Russet, would you like to present your ring to Mr. Alistair?" Naturally, she couldn't place the ring on his finger while simultaneously speaking - at least, not out loud she couldn't - so she slipped the band on his finger and then signed her vows.

{" _There was a large portion of my life that I regret. But if given a chance, I would not change it. In doing so, I never may have found you, or if I did the circumstances would have been different, and we may never have met as we did. The Gods seemed to have wanted us together Fox, and I am proud to see that they did. I love you like I have loved no other, and I doubt I ever will love another._ "} Fox had learnt Sign Language to communicate with his team and girlfriend from near enough the moment he gained his vision. But in moments like this, Neo spoke to him in his head too, letting him hear the words she had to say to him.

"And Fox Alistair, Ms. Russet's ring, if you wouldn't mind."

"Orchid. You were persistent the second time we truly interacted. The first time was... less than stellar - you threw a Nevermore at me. After that, it was months before I spoke to you again, but you had been around that entire time. Honestly, I knew you were special then, but on that first date we went on, something clicked. And things have been clicking ever since. I have loved every moment we've had because they have made us stronger, and from now on we will grow together as a true family." His wedding ring for her, much like hers for him, was a simple stainless steel ring that had, after casting, been heated slightly and had a brass wire wheel cast over it to give it a slight golden colour. Inside each of the rings though was a different colour - Fox's was orange and Neo's was an intense pink colour.

"By the power invested in me," the priest began, bringing some members of the congregation to attention as they had slightly slouched over time, "and in the eyes of the Gods and Maidens, I now pronounce you Man and Wife. Huge congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs Alistair!" The man leaned down slightly towards Fox, lowering his voice. "You may kiss if you so want to."

~ _Don't need to tell me twice,_ ~ Neo silently insisted as she leaned in and initiated the kiss, everyone in the crowd clapping and cheering for the pair of them even louder and longer than they did with Velvet and Coco, much to the latter of the two's silent and fleeting trivial annoyance. The Mate's followed after the husband and wife to the registry so that they could be recognised as married couples by the Kingdoms.

* * *

"Here they come!" came the call from the crowd as they heard faint footsteps approaching the door. Naturally, it was one of the Faunus with acute hearing, but Blake knew when her hearing would come in handy. Neo and Velvet smiled at that from the other side of the door.

"You three ready to go out there and face the crowd?" their leader asked. Fox and Neo linked hands, then nodded at the fashionista, whose beret and sunglasses were missing at present; rest assured, she told everyone they'd be back on her for the reception afterwards.

Velvet took her Mate's hand as well. "I'm ready too."

"Well then, let the Bride and Groom go first, we'll follow after."

"Nuh uh," Fox replied with a shake of his head, a gesture Neo mirrored.

"...What do you mean 'nuh uh'?"

"Exactly that Coco." The caramel haired girl wasn't sure what to say or think regarding the matter, but whatever it was she wasn't too pleased she was feeling it.

_Trust._

Brown eyes turned to meet their likeness as Coco registered her partner's emotion. "Why would they do anything with ill content on a day like today?" She leaned up and pecked the unsuspecting gunner on the lips with a smile. "Don't answer; you'll only embarrass yourself." The human Mate raised an eyebrow with a smirk at the Rabbit's quip.

"This is _our_ day; as in all four of us, not exclusively mine and Neo's. It's the day all four of us got married to the person we love and care for the most, and so we're going to leave here and soak up the glory as a team." Neo reached across as her now-husband spoke, grabbing hold of her hand and not letting go, linking the four of them together. As you looked at them, Fox was on the far left, then Neo next to him, Coco following that and Velvet finishing out the line on the far right hand side of the line. The symmetry was pretty perfect, as the two 'Brides' were situated in the middle of the two 'Grooms' of the day. "You ready?"

The fashionista smiled. "Yeah, I am."

With a nod from them, Fox and Velvet each pushed one of the double doors at the front of the building open onto a crowd of people lining the way forward. Organ music was playing in the background as everyone cheered and threw confetti in their general direction. The quartet walked down hand in hand, with the two 'Brides' opting to keep their hands together, yet also showed that they were merely holding on to support their close friend in their time in the overwhelming spotlight of the walkway. Cameras flashed, clapping rang out, and cries of hooray were heard as the four made their way to the end of the line of guests. Coco pried her hand out of Neo's and let them walk forward further without them, if only for a couple of steps before they inevitably stopped and stared at the less traditional of the two couples.

{" _Coco, what are you doing?_ "} the ice cream girl queried.

"Yes, we wanted this day to be about all of us, but in the end, you two are in the proper attire for it; it's your day with a side of us, so enjoy the limelight damn it!" For someone who liked to be a more compassionate and understanding leader, Coco still had her moments of firmness and aggression when it came to orders. Fox let out a small chuckle at that before continuing on the path towards the reception area, Neo hand interlocked with his own, her fingers absentmindedly stroking across the smooth service of his new accessory piece. The new Mates followed after the Bride and Groom, the Best Man and Maid of Honour following after them joined by Jade, then the rest of the wedding party and finally the guests started moving with them towards the gazebo a little walk away.

What many people failed to spot though was a new black car pulling up behind everyone else and for three occupants to get out and silently make their way to the back of the group.


	6. Different and Exciting New Beginnings

Despite looking fairly cramped from the outside, once everyone was in the wedding gazebo, they realised how spacious it all really was. How they had planned the seating was that all the tables would be situated around the outside of the giant tent with plenty of room behind each person for getting in and out of their seats. The main couple sat at the far end of the table, with the Maid of Honour, then his Groomsmen to Fox's left, and the Best Man and Bridesmaids on Neo's right. From there, everyone worked their way around the interconnecting tables until they reached the end where there was a large space in the middle with a two tables width gap at the end, plenty of room for people to move into and start dancing and mingling once the food was done. Everyone was getting settled down and ready for the meal, but as everybody was Neo just so happened to glance upwards towards the entrance of their tent and spotted someone outside waiting. She got up, confusing the party.

"What's up hun?" Fox asked of her.

Avoiding the answer, Neo turned to him. ~ _I'm only going to be outside, alright? There's someone I promised to meet._ ~ With that, the Bride grabbed her Scroll, believing she knew who was out there before she shattered into pieces, frightening a few of the guests who didn't know about her semblance and her teleporting powers. Fox let out a small sigh before returning to the conversation he was having previously, hoping his acceptance of that event would deter anyone else from panicking.

Neo materialised just shy of the door, and through the plastic windows she could see the shapes of three figures. Walking outside, her suspicions were confirmed when standing in front of her were Cinder and Emerald, plus a third person; she had no idea who he was. She nodded her head in acknowledgement of their presence, not wishing to waste time typing out their names as a greeting.

"It certainly is pleasant to see you again Neo," Cinder began. Rather than her usual attire Neo always pictured, Cinder was in a simple, form-fitting black dress that finished around knee level. Her hair still flowed as it always had, draping over her left ear, and obviously she would be Cinder Fall if she wasn't rocking a pair of black stiletto heels. The tri coloured woman was taken slightly aback by the voice of her old boss; it wasn't the same sultry tone she initially remembered when pairing any memories to the fiery eyed woman, but it was a whole lot more audible than the struggling rasps she recalled from early on in their final year at Beacon. It was a little gravellier than she was used to hearing, but other than that she seemed okay. Audibly, at least - there's no telling how she was mentally coping with what Salem had done to her.

**Your voice seems to have improved**

"It has, all thanks to this man here." Cinder extended her arm out towards the man beside her, who approached and wrapped his arm around the raven haired beauty's waist, an act that surprised the Bride. "This is Dr. Feng Huang. He hails from Anima, but moved to Vacuo to learn about medicine and healing." Neo nodded to him with a slight curtsy, a gesture he appreciated and returned with a bow from the hip.

"Ms. Rus- I mean, Mrs. Alistair. An honour to meet you." Neo smiled and nodded, then redirected her attention to Cinder. In the most blatant way possible, the mute simply pointed between him and her.

"Yes," was the easy response. "Dr Huang first saw me when Emerald and I went out one night, just to escape that room we were cooped up in, and I had an episode where I found breathing incredibly difficult to the point of suffocation. Luckily for me, this man was there, and he saved my life. After that, he stayed to help me along with Emerald, and we grew closer and closer."

"I'd say it had been about 3 and a half months since we started dating." Neo reached out and grabbed the woman's hands, a silent congratulations to her.

"Thank you, Neo. Congratulations yourself." They both turned to face Emerald, who was standing behind them. Emerald too was dressed differently from before. Her look consisted of a smart skirt in grey and a matching blouse, along with an apple green shirt. It looked very business-like, with the exception of the eye patch covering the place her eye once was; but it looked good on her, eye patch included, and Neo felt the need to comment. She knew how Emerald could be with things like her look and her confidence; even if they hated one another at some point in the past, Neo still paid attention.

**That outfit looks good Emerald. I like it**

"Thanks," she replied, avoiding eye contact but smiling slightly all the same, "yours is really amazing Neo." Neo admired Emerald's progression ever since her incident in Salem's domain. She clearly had been working on improving her actual social skills as opposed to her fake ones, and whilst the road looked rough, she seemed to be making progress. Her semblance couldn't be called upon to ease her way out of the situation like before, so she was stuck as she was - but in her eye, she was benefitting from it all.

**Will you be staying with us?**

She asked already suspecting the answer, so she wasn't shock at all when Cinder said "I'm afraid we can't stay. I have an appointment later on today and Emerald needs to get to work later on." The Bride's shoulders slumped slightly, but she accepted their reasonings all the same. Even so, that didn't stop her giving the dark skinned woman a quizzical look at the mention of her job.

"I work shifts at the local CCT station. The pay's... not spectacular, and the hours can be less than sociable, but at least the pay is there. My Aura's still trying to recover after having my semblance essentially ripped from me, so a low-level job like this is keeping me occupied at least." Neo accepted it and moved in to hug Emerald first, who much to the shorter woman's surprise hugged back with little reluctance or hesitance. "Goodbye Neo. Enjoy the rest of your day. I'll be thinking of you."

{" _I. Think. You. Too._ "} she signed back as basically as she could. Cinder hugged Neo next.

"Thank you, Neo. I don't think either of us would have been able to do this without you. You set us up to keep pushing on, and we're never going to forget that." The temptress was handed a present by her boyfriend that she in turn passed to the Bride. "From both myself and Emerald, as a thank you and congratulations." With that, the three of them turned and walked back to the car they arrived in, leaving the mute staring after them for a couple of seconds before turning around and re-entering the gazebo.

"Who was that?" Fox inquired as his wife sat down beside him.

~ _Cinder and Emerald,_ ~ she replied, pulling on the small bow adorning the box she had been given. ~ _They've moved on and tried to grow after the incident, and it seems like they have marvellously. Emerald's working at the CCT and Cinder's got a boyfriend.~_

"Really? Good for them." The spouses both started smiling at the previous criminals' gift for them; a set of three decorative stainless steel spoons. Two of them were tablespoons, each engraved on the handle. One said, 'For Her', the other, 'For Him'. But what really made them smile was the third spoon, a teaspoon with the words 'For Everyone Else' squeezed on. "Think that's to do with your ice cream addiction?"

~ _It's not an addiction, and you know it. I like the taste, is all.~_

"Sure," he chuckled, planting a quick kiss on her lips. Idle chatter continued in the group for a few moments more before Yatsuhashi stood up, clinking his cutlery against the side of his glass, silencing everyone.

"Thank you everyone for attending today. To see not only two of my closest friends officially come together today in Velvet and Coco, but also to see my brother tying the knot with the person who, over time, became my little-big sister was truly magical. And to be the Best Man at his wedding, well... he didn't have many options to choose from." The comment brought forth a hearty laugh from the vast majority of the congregation. "Now there are many things I could say about Fox, and by extension Neo, in my speech here that would embarrass the pair of them, like the time I walked into our dorm room back at Beacon only to find Fox passed out and in an Ice Cream Coma, with Neo doing no sort of panicking but instead was silently laughing to herself and taking pictures..." most of those present began laughing at that even harder than before, with Fox turning to his wife in shock.

"You didn't help me?" he asked in disbelief.

~ _I did... after I took a few photos and a video.~_

"Why haven't I seen them then?"

~ _Do you honestly think I'd keep something like **that** on my Scroll for you to stumble upon? They went straight onto an external drive._~

"... but I'm not going to do that," Yatsuhashi continued slyly. "Instead, I feel that acknowledging the history that these two have had with one another seems more appropriate for the occasion." A polite round of applause came, along with a muttered promise from Fox that he'd get him back someday. "On initiation back at Beacon, I happened upon a boy lost in the Emerald Forest. Now I do not mean lost as in the literal sense, although I would need to clarify with him myself whether he actually was."

The copper haired Groom shrugged with a grin. "Yeah, I had no clue which way to go."

"Alright then, so I had found someone lost - both physically and mentally - in the Emerald Forest. I say mentally because it was very clear he was nervous about being there. And I learnt from him later, he wasn't near anybody he knew for the first time in a long time, and so all he saw was darkness and similarity in the trees of the forest. There was no one he could turn to, and so he remained where he landed almost, slowly edging his way forward in the general direction he had landed. I stayed close, but out of the way. There were a few people that had landed near us, and I had even seen a couple of people look at Fox, then turn and run. They did not want to be paired with someone who lacked sight. I say that they were foolish.

"And so I approached him, I made myself known and that I was not a threat to him. Then came probably the weirdest part of our friendship, and I don't say that lightly. The very first thing he said to me after I had introduced myself was, 'My name is Fox Alistair. If we are going to be partners, I need to be able to see your Aura clearly. How tall are you?'" Some members of the wedding present looked puzzled, others giggled to themselves. "I told him, and his reply was 'Perfect. I need to ride on your back so that I can establish a connection between us, and we can keep moving.' Then without even waiting for a response, he jumped on my back and wrapped his legs around my waist, placed a hand on my shoulder and turned deadly silent.

"I highly doubt many, if any, of you have ever had a stranger essentially throw themselves onto you for a piggyback, but I can say that the experience was... different to what I had come to expect from students at Beacon. How wrong I was." Coco and Velvet chuckled politely to themselves at that. The two sisters of Team RWBY decided that it would be appropriate to stand up suddenly and fist pump in the air screaming "Yeah!" at what seemed like the top of their lungs. "Point proven," the giant laughed as the girls were dragged down to their seats by their respective partners - one in frustration, the other laughing. I'll let you guess which was which.

"Anyway, after that ordeal was over, Initiation was complete and teams were formed, I saw Fox repeating the same thing as he did with me to our new teammates, the lovely Coco Adel and Velvet Scarlatina, in our dorm. The only difference was that he seemed far more nervous at approaching and speaking to them than me, and he also didn't try to get a piggyback off them. But as a team, we were lacking in skills to communicate and truly gel with one another, our leader being the obvious exception to the rule. So when Coco, 'genius' that she is, brings in a large quantity of alcohol on the first Friday night we had together and declares that we're going to 'Drink until our barriers are gone, get to know each other, then drink some more until we forget them again and wake up tomorrow with a painful headache but three new friends.' You wouldn't believe how well that worked.

"In that evening, I saw who Fox really could be. He could laugh, joke, be merry, be a person. And after that night and the hangover that followed, the Fox as I now know him came to be. He tried looking for love - and as a blind boy, I imagine that quite difficult - among his peers, falling for a certain Rabbit eared Faunus to my right, an-"

"And look how _that_ turned out!" Coco interrupted, a mischievous grin on her face. The punchline landed true, and many members of the party roared with laughter, the embarrassed Groom and mortified Faunus in question joining in as well.

"Yes, Coco, we know what happened there. My point was, although he looked and found nothing, love eventually found him in a young woman called Neo in the latter half of our second year at Beacon. She opposed us originally, but something magical happened it seemed. I'll spare you the details, but in short, herself and Fox grew closer through circumstances they never imagined they would have encountered. They started dating because of a magical artefact that bonded to the pair's souls in a way to appease it. But when they were dating out of necessity, genuine affection weaved its way into their lives. They found someone who would be with them through thick and thin, good or bad, and we're here to celebrate them today." Yatsuhashi found his glass of champagne on the table and raised it high, a gesture everyone else mirrored. "To the Bride and Groom!"

"The Bride and Groom!" they sung back in chorus.

"...and to the Mates, I guess. They're here too."

"Watch it, Daichi..." the fashionista warned with a serious tone, but a joking look in her eye.

"To the Mates!" everyone else repeated. Once they had toasted, they began chatting to one another to pass the time as the Best Man's speech was over, meaning food was quite literally on the menu now. In terms of what was being served, there was nothing overtly fancy or special, for all intents and purposes it was just a light dinner. But that was their plan all along. Everybody ate what they had, and once all the plates were cleared nearly everyone had more than enough room for more. As the party was eating, there were snacks being prepared behind them all off to one side, so that when they were done, they could eat dessert to their hearts' and stomachs' content.

The tables everyone was sat at were moved back to make room for dancing, but not before Neo and Fox made their way to the space in the middle of the gazebo. The DJ, who Yang somehow knew from "a friend's nightclub in Vale" called Bärtot, started with a song from Syd Barrett called 'Love You', one the couple found by pure accident one day looking for songs to listen to.

_#Honey love you, honey little,#_

_#Honey funny sunny morning#_

_#Love you more funny love in the skyline baby#_

_#Ice-cream 'scuse me,#_

_#I've seen you looking good the other evening.#_

The couple swayed to the music, the occasional spin and flourish thrown in to break up the simple moves they'd stuck with throughout most of it. The song was simple and repetitive enough to not warrant anything excessive all the time.

_#Ice-cream 'scuse me,#_

_#I've seen you looking good the other evening.#_

Every time the chorus came in with that line, they both sang it to each other in their heads as they always had with this song. The rest of the lyrics meant a lot to them, but the inclusion of the phrase _"Ice-cream 'scuse me"_ was prime ammo for the rest of the team to playfully mock Neo's obsession with the dairy product; honestly, they couldn't care what anyone else thought about it at that moment in time, it was their song now.

As the final chords rang out, the couple kissed in front of the congregation, earning them yet another round of applause. It was only then did Bärtot start playing more music and the Reception really began in full swing.

* * *

An hour after the first dance, and the Reception had come to life. Coco and Neo snuck off a few minutes after to change slightly, Coco grabbing her trusted beret and sunglasses, Neo to swap out of her traditional wedding gown into a much more traditional dress. It was still sticking to the colour theme of the wedding, but the fact it was shorter than her gown, lighter than it and without a veil and train made things more manageable for the ice cream girl. They also had a bit to drink back in the main building as well; Coco managed to smuggle in a small bottle under Velvet's nose, knowing full well she was going to be returning to the hall - hopefully without her - to have some. The couple toasted themselves, "to the new brides", so when they returned, they looked much more comfortable not only in terms of dress, but also because they had a bit more alcohol to drink than it seemed. Neither had much more after then, but they both agreed they wanted something to give them a buzz, but not enough to forget the rest of the day into the night.

Coco spoke to her Father and Dolly once they had managed to pull her away from the dance floor.

"Congratulations are in order, I believe," Rodney began, hugging his daughter tight.

"Thanks Dad. It's lovely to see you two attending."

"Well, I'm not going to wait around and hear that my daughter has gotten married from some other source, I wanted to be there and see it myself."

"And I grew up knowing you Coco," Dolly added, "it's only fitting I see you truly grow up."

"Thanks Doll." Coco hugged her as well.

"I do have to ask though, and I mean no offence when I do, but... why take up Velvet's surname? I know you two would have discussed it in detail beforehand, as you always used to do, and so I'm not going to judge, it's just a-"

"It's alright Doll, I was expecting that question sooner or later. Basically, it's the same reason that Velvet isn't marrying Colette Adel. If my Mother wanted to push everything onto me, then I was going to do anything and everything to stand against that. Changing my name legally to Coco at 16 was the first of those big steps. Taking up my Mate's surname is near enough the final one. I'd rather lose any stake I hold in the company than lose my little Cottontail, and that's what this was all about." The fashionista glanced off to one side, spying her Mate from across the gazebo. With a smile, she added, "Velvet means more to me than anything else on Remnant could. She insists at times that I helped her, which I may have, but she returned the favour tenfold. She helped me realise exactly the type of world I want to live in. We had been truly Mated for a couple of months before today, as we said earlier, but this was really the nail in the coffin for Mom."

"I understand Coco," her Father said, resting a hand on her shoulder, "and I'm proud of you for doing what you have done. I married into the Adel name years ago for power in this world and money, all selfish needs. When you came along, my goals changed - I wanted to be the best Father I could be _with_ the money I had now. I wanted to be self- _less_ , helping you grow into a fine young woman, which you certainly have. But seeing how your Mother treated you when you were younger, it made me want to flee from that life with you by my side. But in the same vein, you are the only reason I remain part of the family now. Adel's produce strong and powerful women who can lead the charge when called for and can get anything they set their minds to, and it's undeniable that you have that trait in you. I'm just glad I also see my compassionate side as well." The woman's Father, who stood a little shorter than his daughter with black wavy hair that had greyed a little at the sides over the years, spoke with tears in his eyes. "Coco Scarlatina, I am honoured to called you my daughter until the end of my days, regardless of what your Mom thinks." She had tears pooling too as she hugged him again. "I also want front row seats to when Kara loses it when she hears what you've done, and I won't get those tickets running away."

"Dad!" the beret toting woman chastised with a laugh, smacking his shoulder slightly to get her point across. "Thanks again for coming. And you too Dolly. I'm sure Mom's worrying something fierce as to why both of you requested holiday at the same time for the exact same date."

"She only signs the paperwork Coco, _I'm_ the one who actually deals with that sort of thing. Half the time she doesn't even look at what she's signing."

"Right," she giggled, "'cause I was wondering how you managed to sneak 'I'm going to Coco's Wedding' in as a valid reason for holiday." Dolly simply winked, leaned in and whispered into the caramel haired girl's ear.

"Vanishing ink pens are a great gift, don't you think?" Coco couldn't help the roar of laughter that escaped from her then.

As this was happening, Velvet was having a conversation with her Mom and two of her sisters.

"I'm so happy for you, Bun," Taffeta Scarlatina cooed to her daughter, hugging her almost violently. The matriarch of the family looked identical to her eldest daughter, save for the fact her hair was cut a little shorter and there were a few more lines on her face from age.

"Mom... I need... to... breath..." she choked out.

"Oh, sorry sweetie. I'm just so happy."

 _S_ _o you've said,_ the Mated Faunus thought to herself, not wishing to create any rifts from being snarky. Harriet, the middle of the two children here at four years Velvet's junior, but not wishing to become a Huntress, rolled her eyes playfully at her Mom's actions, then smiled at her sister.

"We are all really proud of you Velvet. And for Coco Adel to take on your surname is something fantastic in of itself."

"Harriet, it's nothing. Really. Her name kind of means nothing to her now, hasn't for a long time. You should know from what she's told you before, she really doesn't like her Mother, so this was the only course of action we saw fit. Besides, I think that her Mom finding out that she's not only married a woman and has taken _their_ name rather than them becoming an Adel, but also finding out her spouse is actually a Faunus whom she has also Mated for life with will cause Kara untold amounts of grief and frustration. And that's something I know Coco is going to be pretty pleased about."

"Vel'et?" came the call of Lily-Cooke Scarlatina, the youngest Faunus there and actually the youngest Scarlatina in general at just five and a half years old.

"Yes Cookie? What is it?"

"Why are you happy 'bout somebody being sad?" Velvet kneeled down and hoisted Lily-Cooke into her arms, carrying her on shoulder - an easy feat for someone like her who trained constantly for the best part of four years at Beacon.

"Because, my little Cookie, Coco's Mommy hasn't very nice to Coco all her life. I'm not happy about her being sad, but if Coco being happy _makes_ her Mommy sad, then I'm willing to overlook it." The little girl, who looked much like a chibi version of Velvet and Taffeta at her age, nodded at the comment, whether that was out of politeness or actual understanding the mage didn't know, but she accepted the nod all the same. Coco's laughter broke through to the Scarlatina family, all four pairs of Rabbit ears perking up and heads swivelling towards the sounds, with only Lily-Cooke holding her ears at the very loud noise to her. "See, Auntie Coco is happy now, much happier than she had been before."

"But she's with than man instead of you. Is she going to marry him now because he's making her happy without you?"

"Cookie!" she replied with a laugh, her sister and mother joining in as well. Suddenly, as if being summoned, Ruby appeared in a flash of rose petals, a gleam in her eyes.

"I heard cookies, where?" That made the oldest sibling laugh even harder as she lowered the five year old to the ground. "What?"

"Ruby Rose, this is part of my family: Taffeta Scarlatina - my Mom, my sister Harriet, and my youngest sibling Lily-Cooke. Her _nickname_ is Cookie." Ruby greeted all of them individually, but when it came to Lily-Cooke she muttered a small "Oh, I see" to them before she kneeled down to look at the brown eyed child, the smaller one's eyes filled with wonder and excitement.

"Hi there, my name's Ruby."

"Are you a mag'cian like Velvet?" the chibi Bunny asked.

"Huh?"

"I saw you appear like magic." Realisation hit Ruby.

"Oh, well not exactly. I move at speeds so fast it looks like I appear out of nowhere." That made the child slightly downcast, but the scythe wielder brought her mood back up again. "Did they say your nickname was 'Cookie'?"

"Yeah."

"That is so cool. I love cookies!" The child gasped, reaching out to tug on her Mother's dress.

"Mommy, she loves me! Does that mean I have to marry her?" All the adults laughed.

"No honey-bun, you don't have to marry her. Besides, you're too young for marriage."

"Hey, Cookie?" The small girl turned to stare into silver eyes. "My partner can do magic. She can make things magically appear out of nowhere, it's really cool! Do you want to come with me and ask her to show you some of her magical skills?" The child literally started bouncing with eagerness, wanting nothing more.

"Ruby."

"Yes, Mrs. Scarlatina?"

"Your partner is Weiss Schnee, isn't it?" Ruby briefly exhaled through her nose before answering; she knew that 'Faunus' and 'Schnee' went together like oil and water, and having no inclination to believe otherwise these people would think her no different.

"Weiss is nothing like anyone from the SDC you've ever heard about before, her and her sister Winter. In fact, she no longer is Heiress to the company anymore. Her Dad wants nothing to do with her really, and it shows in how she acts without him. She actually treats Faunus with respect, if that's what you were worried about. Our teammate Blake is a Faunus, and we've lasted through three and a half years with only a handful of major squabbles about it in that time, so I think that's more than enough proof she's different."

"Very well." She turned her attention to her youngest. "Go on sweetie," Taffeta agreed, "I won't be too far away, and Ruby is a nice girl, she'll look after you." There was a squeal, followed by a bounce straight to Ruby's side as the girl took the crimson tipped girl's hand and turned to find her partner. "Enjoy the magic, Lily-Cooke."

"Okay Mommy!" Ruby left with the child, both skipping towards the alabaster haired woman mingling with Maggie and Yatsuhashi on the opposite side of the tent.

"Will she be alright Velvet?"

"Mom, Ruby wasn't lying when she said that Weiss was different. Sure, she was less than amicable on Initiation, but even then, she was never full on horrid towards our kind. Now, she's one of the most understanding humans I've ever met in that school, going so far as to even learn about different unique Faunus behaviours and traits, and special needs for those with specific species ailments."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She saved a kid named Copper in her year from dying after someone fed him a couple of squares of dark chocolate without thinking. He was a Canine Faunus, and she just cared for him and saved his life with her quick thinking without thinking anything of it. Everyone looked at her differently from then on, human and Faunus alike."

"Wow. I must admit," the matriarch admitted, "if you told me that girl was a Schnee after telling me that, I wouldn't have believed you. But seeing her, the way she acts around everyone, it's quite remarkable and I could believe it."

"Are we talking about me? Or someone else?" The two more senior Rabbits jumped in fear at the sudden appearance of Coco behind them. The older one's ears lay flat in fear, whereas the fashionista's Mate's fell back in frustration. Harriet had seen Coco coming, so the appearance didn't startle her.

"How many times?"

"Not enough to stick, apparently," Coco admitted, wrapping an arm around Velvet's waist. "I'm sure Velvs' already said it, but thank you for coming Taffeta."

"She has, yes, but the thanks is appreciated all the same."

"And I've got to say, welcome to the family now." Harriet grinned at her older sister and official sister-in-law. "And this time, it's official." With another smile. she shook her head in disbelief, still trying to convince herself she wasn't dreaming. "Coco Scarlatina... it doesn't seem possible."

"Yeah, well, Velvet Adel didn't have the same ring to it. And you know where I stand regarding my Mother; she's not the biggest fan of Faunus' and I didn't want to bring you into that firing line. This was the only logical course of action, really."

"Wow!" they all heard. Shifting their collective focus, they all saw Lily-Cooke perched on the shoulders of Ruby, reaching up to try and grab the summoned snowflakes that Weiss had made over their heads, all three faces lit up with glee. The sight made the rest of the Scarlatina's, both Faunus and human, smile.

* * *

"How are you not tired?" Maggie asked of Fox, the pair sitting on the side lines as the music was going, with Neo, Coco, Yang and others all up dancing. Fox seemed fine, Maggie seemed completely shattered. It was evening now, and a few guests had left for various reasons. Rodney and Dolly left due to business - they couldn't take too long for their 'holiday' and Atlas isn't exactly a hop, skip and jump away either. Yubae and Oakley left for similar travelling reasons, although Vinnie elected to remain at the reception, staying at the hotel overnight and then return home the next day. And the three Scarlatina's needed to go because a certain little bunny overworked herself with Ruby and Weiss, and as such ended up crashing hard to the point where she became a complete dead weight. Their departure didn't stop Harriet and Vulpé trying to poorly flirt with one another throughout the entire time they were near each other. It was nice to see that Harriet didn't take after her sister in that regard, yet Vulpé took after Fox.

"Huntsman," came his initial response, answering her question in the simplest of ways but choosing to expand said reasoning. "Our Auras are unlocked, and we train nearly every day for four years to be the best we can be in all fields, from speed to stamina, and utilising our Aura to better each of those fields." He smirked. "Although, Neo has been pretty stellar in terms of helping me with my stamina."

"I didn't want to hear about your bedroom escapades," the Faunus replied, glaring over that the Groom.

The man simply shrugged, stating, "we haven't spoken in a while, your interests might have changed in that time." His expression softened as she giggled at that, shifting a little closer to her. "But one thing I _did_ want to know regards Neo."

"What about her?" the faired haired woman inquired, turning herself to face the scarred man next to her.

"Why didn't you try with her?" The question took her by surprise, seemingly shocking the exhaustion right out of her body. "I know you've discussed it with her, but I never got the chance to ask. You don't have to te-"

"The honest reason was that I was scared. This beautiful woman comes into the café looking all gloomy, I go over to see what's wrong and she jumps up and kisses me. And it wasn't a kiss like I've admittedly had before where people are just trying to kiss me 'cause of how I look and dress, but this one felt like there was something else to it; I couldn't say what it was at the time, but it felt like there was passion in the mix rather than purely desire. As I know she's told you, one thing lead to another, lead to my bedroom, all from that hint of something. But again, it wasn't loveless in there. Sure, it started that way, but as we progressed things... developed. She did something and I responded by brushing her hair out of her face for her. Things got slower, more sensual, if you would. It became less and less 'having sex', more and more 'making love', and by the end she felt it too. We could have had something," she admitted through a clenched jaw and scrunched up fists, "but in that one moment I let fear take over and I said that I didn't think it would work out. The only other thing I remember saying was that she could come back whenever, hoping that that would be enough. I was wrong, because she went after you."

"I'm... I'm sorry Mags."

"Don't be sorry, you're married now. Clearly things had to have worked for you. I just... part of me wishes that I wasn't so scared of the outcome, and rather let what may have happened just happen. But I know that wouldn't last." She turned to look straight into his eyes. "You two have a connection, one that even Coco and Velvet with their Mate Link couldn't match, and it was going to pull you together no matter what. I had no chance against that." Fox looked at the Arctic Fox, seeing her downcast expression made him almost guilty. "Urgh, look at me. I'm bringing the whole wedding down. You don't need that." She went to get up and leave, but Fox grabbed her hand.

"Maggie, you don't have to leave y'know."

"I'm not leaving, just getting myself a drink. I thought I'd moved past that and now I'm just bringing up old memories, I need to wash them away again somehow." She wormed her hand out of his and made her way to the small bar. Neo saw this and left the dance floor to sit with her husband.

~ _Lien for your thoughts, stranger?_ ~

"I asked Maggie about you and her, and why she didn't try and pursue something."

~ _Well that was stupid._ ~ Neo decided that the meandering approach was not going to work here, so blunt and to the point it was. ~ _We're at_ _ **our wedding**_ _, you don't pull that sort of shit anywhere really, but especially not that person's wedding. And didn't you already know the answer to that?~_

"No, it never came up between us, and on the couple of occasions I've asked you about it, you always told me that 'speaking to Maggie is better than hearing the story through me'."

~ _But not at our wedding. I'll go speak to her._ ~ The Bride rose from the seat and pulled out her Scroll as she made her way over to the Arctic Fox Faunus.

"Hey Neo," she sighed as the pink and brown Bride sat down beside her, "I guess you spoke to Fox then? I'm fine, honestly."

 **Yes I did, and no you're not. Fox can still be a little insensitive at times, he and I are aware of that, but that's not an excuse.** Maggie knocked the drink she had back, then turned towards Neo.

"It's my memories and feelings, Neo. I don't want them to hurt me, or hinder me, but they always seem to do just that. I don't know wha-" A finger pressed against her lips, hushing her. Neo nodded her head off to one side, an indication that she wanted the Faunus to follow. She complied.

~ _Fox, I'm going to be taking a walk with Maggie,_ ~ she told him over the crowd, ~ _we'll be back as soon as she's ready, but start to worry if we're gone any longer than an hour or so.~_

~ _Okay. And tell her that I really am sorry for what I said.~_

~ _I'll leave some for you too._ ~ The two women stood and headed out of the tent, Maggie swapping out her shoes for more comfortable and practical flats, and they headed down to the on-grounds stream. The pair wandered along the water's edge in silence, Neo deliberately linking arms with the Faunus. The ice cream girl couldn't quite pin if that was making her more nervous or relaxed that they were walking along so intimately, and that worried her more.

**Mags, how are you feeling? And no beating around the bush, I want an honest answer**

The Faunus smiled weakly, then answered with, "defeated. I don't know what to do anymore, don't know how to continue on, if there is anything worth me continuing on for. I just feel... empty. I thought Duke was the one, you know. We'd grow old, have kids, make a family; but he was so self-centred that I'm glad things broke off when they did. Any later, and it may have gone even further south." The fair haired Faunus stared out onto the stream, glimpsing the sight of two others on the far side with her night vision. She saw Ruby and Weiss walking hand in hand along the stream, not saying anything or doing anything other than walking with fingers intertwined, and they were smiling, content with the hand they'd been dealt at this moment. The older pair found a bench nearby, sitting and staring out, the faintest sound of the reception lingering in the air behind them. "Life has a funny way of knocking me down, even when I feel on top of the world."

**So you were on top of the world once?**

"...I don't follow." Neo rolled her eyes, then expanded her statement.

 **Yes, you feel like shit now, but you said you felt like you were on top of the world. Focus on that rather than the bad. You'll see where you are from the positives rather than the negatives, and you'll have a new sense of purpose. It won't be an overnight thing, but it'll come.** Maggie scoffed. A scoff that turned into a small chuckle, that in turn became a light laugh, then a full on roar of sound.

"How the hell is it that you can't say a damn thing at all, yet somehow manage to do better at counselling than my actual counsellor? Ever considered a carrier change?" Neo's eyes swapped colours, her brown eye matching the same pink hue as her other eye, as she shook her head, then leaned it on the Faunus' shoulder. The mute held her Scroll in front of Maggie, revealing her answer to the woman.

 **Unlike them, I've been through that shit. Seven and a half, nearly eight, years of doing everything wrong under the sky, finding very little good coming of it; I learnt then that the smallest bit of good I could do I'd make sure to let that stick with me until I was free from that nightmare I'd jumped into.**  
**Finding Dart's Darting Shop meant I could keep up with my hobby from when I was a kid. 'Running away from them for a fortnight; even though the punishment afterwards was severe, the freedom was liberating. 'Saving a little girl's life in that violent Grimm attack on Mantle six years ago. All things I clung onto as proof that I wasn't all doom and gloom walking around with a parasol.**  
**I was still willing to fight.  
** **You're in a far better position than I was back then. Don't waste it, focus on the good.**

She pondered before handing over the Scroll once again.

**List your good.**

"My good...?"

**Times where you've felt amazing. On top of the world**

"Right." Before Maggie could start, Neo stood up and extended her hand out to the Faunus, who took it with a grin as they walked back towards the tent, the Bride feeling like they'll reach the conclusion she was after by the time they'd return. "Well, meeting you was definitely one." Neo nonchalantly nodded at that. "Po giving me that promotion was another, I guess. Duke taking me on..." The Faunus stopped herself, her mood shifting. The mute saw this and furrowed her brow, her eye colour swapping sides as she squeezed the Arctic Fox's hand hard, causing her to cry in pain. The shorter woman shook her head at the fair haired one, then took her free hand and pointed at her own face, which had a very obvious and over the top smile plastered all over it. It was Neo's way of saying 'Happy thoughts', and Maggie caught on. "Sorry, but was there any need for the squeezing?" The ice cream girl kissed the Faunus' hand as an apology, bringing a smile to her face at the silent gesture. "Duke taking me on that holiday to Southern Mistral for our Two-Year Anniversary was phenomenal, as was our first kiss really. And when you asked me to be the Maid of Honour after that bad day at work, and - wow, okay; there are a _lot_ of good that have happened to me."

 **See? Keep that in mind at all times and you'll realise just how much good you've had. I'm sure you could list off a thousand and one things that went wrong in the same time frame, but these good things will balance out the bad.** Maggie chuckled, leaning in and pecking the Bride on the cheek.

"Are you _sure_ you don't want to become a counsellor? You're good, great even." Neo laughed silently, shaking her head and presenting her Scroll once she'd replied.

 **I don't want to be the only one on Team CFVYN to have a mundane job. Not yet, at least - let me undertake my two years worth of mandatory service first, then we'll talk.** The bushy tailed woman started sniggering at that, and on realisation of what she had written Neo pulled a face and expanded her statement. **Figuratively talk, you tit.**

"No talking of my tits anymore missy, you're a married woman now. The only tits of your concern now are your own and where they are on your husband." Neo playfully smacked Maggie's arm. "That was for squeezing my hand earlier."

**I will need to speak with Fox about this, but I'm pretty sure our "Semi-Open Relationship" is still going to be ongoing even now. No promises (but I kind of want it to stay ;) )**

"Orchid Alistair, you cheeky little minx you," the Faunus teased as they reached the gazebo.

 _Oh great, I'm getting the full name treatment again..._ she thought to herself, wondering if Fox would hear this solitary thought and be confused by its weirdness. _And getting used to that name may take me a while._

"But do ask though," she added in a whisper, "I would never and have never taken liberties with that offer, but it was always a door I liked knowing was open."

**As I said, I will ask him.**

"Thanks Neo." She smacked the Bride's bottom, pushing her towards the tent's entrance. "Now go on, you've got some dancing to do with your husband, then an awesome Honeymoon to enjoy in the morning." She nodded and found the tan skinned man over on the far side of the giant white room. Her Faunus tail swayed as she grinned at her friend approaching her husband. _How did I end up with a friend like you Neo? I hope I can pay your kindness back someday._

* * *

**{END OF ACT 1}**


	7. Introductions

**KEY:**

"Speech"  
_Thought_  
{" _Sign Language_ "}  
_~Thought Talking~_  
**Scroll message**  
_*Scroll call*  
_[ **Headset Commands** ]

* * *

**{THREE YEARS LATER}**

* * *

Fulcrum often faired well against the bony skull of a Beowolf, and this time was no exception. The creature barely had the time to let out a final cry before the blade sliced it in two. Even in the exhausted state he was in, Yatsuhashi was faring well against the Creatures of Grimm, despite the fact that these were merely the grunts of the never ending army of darkness. One tried to approach from behind and catch the swordsman off guard, but Neo teleported from wherever she was to right beside it, kicking it in the chest and knocking its leap off before it had even left the floor, straight into the path of Fox's blades.

"...Yatsu, Ni says to check down the street on our left, there shouldn't be any more of those things. I'm heading right, she said she's going to go up."

"Understood." The three of them split off, with Neo taking off up the surrounding buildings to get a better view of their battleground. The village they were protecting, a small settlement on the outskirts of Mistral called Kuyoimi, asked for aid to deal with a Grimm problem. Even though they'd literally just finished a mission, they took this job instantly and headed straight there. The buildings were substantial in size, so the height advantage came in handy for scouting out the area. Fortunately, there was nothing else to see, save the odd Grimm that it appeared the locals were banding together to fend off against on the far edges of where she could see. "I see nothing, Neo," Yatsuhashi commented over their comms.

"I've not got anything either - I think that's the lot."

"[ **Good job!** ] [ **Regroup.** ] [ **On me.** ] [ **Mission success!** ]" came the voice from Neo's com line. Sadly for the mute, her inability to speak had not been reversed. Instead, using some of the money the team had accumulated in the three years since graduating Beacon, CFVYN invested in a headset for Neo that could relay very basic and generic phrases to those on the wavelength. It added more diversity to the group, letting the dual haired woman go out on her own rather than having to stick with someone else. She didn't use the function all the time, but it came in handy every now and again. And on missions like this with her, Fox and Yatsuhashi, it definitely was needed, especially as she was the leader and thus was calling the shots.

The two males of CFVYN joined their teammate once again, holstering their weapons and heading back to the main village hall where they were to meet with the Mayor. As they approached the hall, three people left the building and descended the stairs in front of it to speak to them. As they were doing so, Neo got a message on her Scroll that she hastily opened. It turns out that she had already missed one from Velvet, and the first message was the one she'd been anticipating for so long now, and the second was just an added bonus. So, she requested an immediate collection with a push of a button, then slid the device into her pocket and waited semi-patiently for the formalities to be over.

"I gather from the fact you three have arrived that the Grimm threat has been eradicated?" the Mayor asked. The woman wore very traditional attire, a formal kimono with her hair done up in a high bun and very minimalistic makeup. She did, however, wear a large pendant that came out over the front of the garb, signifying her status as Mayor of Kuyoimi. The two beside her wore much more normal clothing by comparison, one in a jacket and trousers with a shirt, the other in a casual grey dress.

"You would be correct," Yatsuhashi confirmed, "there may be one or two outliers around the village, but I believe our leader mentioned to us that your people were dealing with those ones personally."

"I agree, the odd Grimm is something we can band together to defeat, even after an attack like that. We thank you for your aid in times such as this." As the Mayor bowed, the two Huntsmen and the Huntress bowed too in respect. "I trust you would like our previous agreement to still stand regarding this?" The mute nodded for her teammates. "Very well, you shall receive it tomorrow - I am sorry, but that's the earliest we could possibly get it there."

"That's not a big worry anyway Ma'am," Fox countered, "we appreciate you doing this for us regardless."

"Of course." Neo's Scroll buzzed once again, this time all people around heard it. "Ah, that must be the news you were awaiting then? I shall waste your time no longer; go. Your friend needs you." The trio bowed once more before Neo turned and started running back to their temporary safe house for the mission. Once she was done with that, she headed to where they had scheduled the Bullhead to arrive for collection, the two Huntsmen following after her all the while.

Once on the Bullhead, Neo showed the pilot instructions prompting him to shout, "Sure thing; better hold on though, it won't wait for you, so I'm not going to make you wait!" Fox raised the question once the three of them were airborne, realising that asking as they were travelling and packing was probably not the best idea. Now they were on transport that they had literally no control over how fast or slow they'd get somewhere, it seemed like perfect Q&A time.

"Ni, care to tell us why we rushed off?"

{" _Oh, sorry. Forgot._ "} She reached into her pocket and grabbed the device, extending her arm so that the young men could see the three new messages on its screen.

 **Velvet:  
_Her waters broke! This is it guys! (_** _Received 40 minutes ago)_

_**We're on our way there. Contractions have started hard, it's getting so close now. I'm so excited, so hurry your asses up!** (Received 8 minutes ago)_

_**We're at the Hospital now, and it looks like this is going to be pretty uncomfortable for her. Please do not make me suffer in solitude** (Received 5 minutes ago)_

"It's here?!" Fox proclaimed.

~ _Not yet, you idiot,_ ~ Neo replied with a smirk on her face, ~ _it's not an instantaneous thing - it can take hours, days even, but we know that Coco is going to try her hardest to get that thing out of her as fast as possible.~_

"Well, I hope she's not going to over work herself trying to give birth - we don't want her passing out midway through, do we?" The tank's claim made the other two giggle slightly, the pair linking hands as they sat and waited for their transport to get them where they needed to be as promptly as possible.

* * *

Vale Hospital hadn't changed much since the first time they were here back in CFVY's Second Year at Beacon. There were modifications and new equipment inside, but otherwise it appeared exactly the same - the same sleek and pristine white building atop the slight hill for all to see, and the mid-March sun shining in the sky through the intermittent clouds made the colour gleam all around for all to see. The trio entered in a hurry, approaching the front desk.

"Good afternoon, welcome to the Vale Hospital. How can I help?" The man behind the desk was human, with dark brown skin and jet black hair that was done up in a dreaded ponytail that fell down to his mid back.

Yatsuhashi spoke on behalf of them all. "We're teammates of Mrs. Scarlatina, she would have been admitted roughly half an hour ago. She's giving birth."

"One second sir." He searched on the screen and found who he was looking for. "Ah, Mrs. Scarlatina is on the Second Floor Maternity Ward with her wife, Room G6. Follow the signs above the doors and you should get to her with relative ease."

"Thanks," Fox uttered as they started to head off in the direction they were pointed to, travelling with a brisk walk to get there as fast as they could without running or Neo teleporting all over the place. After five minutes of stairs, twists and turns, they made it to Corridor G of the Maternity Ward, and were relieved to discover that Room G6 was right near the entrance they used to get there. As the three of them got closer to the room, they heard Coco screaming, obviously pushing to get the child out into the world. Peering into the room confirmed their suspicions, and Velvet was there as well, dressed in the same get up as the Doctors, Nurses and Midwife around them, the Faunus uttering words of encouragement to her wife as she pushed their child out.

A few moments later, there was one final large scream coming from the fashionista, followed by the unmistakable wailing of an infant, and at that moment the world froze. The pain melted away from Coco's face, and in its place a large smile formed. Velvet's smile grew, even underneath the face mask she wore, as she saw the child and got the honour of cutting the umbilical cord. Yatsuhashi teared up outside; he wasn't made of stone and they all knew it, but seeing him crying was a rarity in of itself. The husband and wife hugged each other close with grins on their faces, watching as the child was quickly examined, then wrapped in a blanket and handed to the Mother on the bed. Velvet removed her stained clothing and kissed her wife hard on the lips, their brown eyes both awash with tears of joy. Coco opened her eyes and spotted their teammates outside.

"Oh Cottontail~," she sang.

"Yes, Chocolate Drop?"

"We've got company." The caramel haired Mother nodded towards the window, causing the Faunus to turn and spot three familiar figures standing outside, all smiling at them, a gesture she reciprocated.

"Am I allowed to go and say hello?" she asked the Midwife, a large Ox Faunus with two filed down horns on his head.

"Of course my dear; I assume this is the rest of the famous Team CFVYN outside?"

"You assume correct," Velvet said with a grin, kissing Coco once more before making her way to the door and her teammates. "You made it!" she cried, throwing her arms around Yatsuhashi, who was the closest to the door.

{" _We couldn't miss this Velvet - both of you would have killed us if we had,_ "} Neo replied as she and Fox rounded off the hug.

"Yeah..." she admitted, chuckling to herself before they all broke the embrace and stared back into the room, with Coco cradling her new-born in her arms so delicately, a grin never leaving her face. "I'm a Mom. I'm actually a Mom." The mage couldn't quite believe she got to say that.

"You two are going to be fantastic parents," Fox assured his friend.

{" _And we'll be with you every step of the way. She's just as much our responsibility as she is yours and Coco's._ "}

"That's true," Velvet admitted. "But only _we_ are allowed to breastfeed, so don't even think about trying it, Neo. If she suddenly starts having a craving for ice cream instead of milk, then we're having words." The tri coloured woman looked downcast for a moment, her eyes swapping to an ivory white colour as her bottom lip stuck out in sadness.

"It _is_ a girl then," Yatsuhashi added, "I thought you said it was going to be a boy?"

"We said it was a likelihood that it was going to be a boy, but until it comes out there's no guarantee anything we guessed beforehand will be right. Besides, with Faunus traits in her, you can never truly tell until they're out of the womb anyway." They all stared back at the room, watching through blinds as people remained circling the bed, cleaning everything up and eventually leaving the room after a successful delivery.

After fifteen minutes, the group was snapped out of their hypnotised state of staring through the glass by the Ox Faunus Midwife. "We've weighed the child - she's a nice healthy 6 pounds, 1 ounce. I'll leave you five alone for a bit, she's ready to be seen now." They all thanked him for all his work over the past months with Coco, then entered the delivery room in near silence, save the slight creaking of floorboards under foot.

"Hey guys," Coco greeted with a whisper, "say hello to our little baby girl." Velvet came and stayed by Coco's head as the other three walked around to the side of the bed. Coco turned the bundle of towels so that everyone could see, and as three pairs of eyes looked in, a new face looked back. The new Scarlatina had a healthy cream skin tone and a small tuft of brown hair on her head. What was quite obvious to see at the moment, as she neither had hair nor a hat to cover her head, were the two small ears on top of her head. Even Coco admit they were a little ugly looking at the moment with no hair on them, but as she grew her Faunus ears would be as big and prominent as her Mother's, something both parents were proud to know she adopted from their combined genes.

{" _She's so precious,_ "} Neo signed, {" _you two are truly lucky to have this. My biggest congratulations._ "} She leaned in, giving Coco a chaste kiss on the lips and hugging Velvet.

"We're not the only ones to thank, remember?" Husband and wife, along with wife and wife, all turned to a now bashful Yatsuhashi.

The usually open man secluded himself a bit as he spoke. "It was nothing."

"Bullsh-"

"Coco, we have a child now," Velvet warned, glaring at her Mate for Life, "you need to cut down on the colourful language."

"...Sorry Velvs. But my point still stands, you cannot say 'It was nothing' when you look at us now. You are the reason I'm lying here with a child, mine and _Velvet's_ child, in my arms right now. We took a risk, and it paid off."

* * *

The conversation in question came in the September of the year prior, just after Team CFVYN had finished their two years of mandatory service as Huntsmen and Huntresses. The long and the short of it was that the two Mates wanted a kid. Both of them being female introduced the main problem of this proposed scenario - neither one of them could physically get the other one pregnant. They searched options; one was the adoption route, naturally, and whilst it was a good cause to support, they wanted a legitimate child of their own, however scientifically impossible that may have been in their minds at this point.

To the surprise of everyone, Yatsuhashi had done research on it and found that the DNA in a female embryo could be transferred to that of a man's sperm, effectively making it her sperm, and then have these genetically altered sperm artificially entered into the host woman's body to impregnate her with her partner's genes using the man's sperm almost as a boat to get there. On hearing that both Velvet and Coco, who had become increasingly more like her on another in certain aspects of their life as time progressed, grumbled at the fact that they'd be missing out the fun part, but Yatsuhashi reminded them that they still could do the fun part, it would just be like the rest of the times they did it though and nothing would come of it. Save from having someone impregnate one of the women themselves the old fashioned way, no amount of sex would change the fact that if they wanted their own genetic children, this was the only way to do that.

To everyone's surprise once again, when the two wives agreed that they wanted to go down that path, Yatsuhashi promptly offered himself as the donor.

"Are you sure about that Yatsu?" Coco asked, genuinely shocked at the speed at which he answered and the conviction in his voice.

The giant nodded, affirming that "If it would make the pair of you happy, then I would do it in a heartbeat." A small giggle came from the Faunus, but her Mate's face was far more downcast. The ex-Adel approached and rested a hand on her tall friend's arm.

"You don't have to do this if this is about Jade, y'know." He flinched at the name. "I'm sorry to bring her up, but I don't want you to-"

"Coco, I have moved on. We are friends, but I could never be what she wanted, and it was better that we became only such. This is because you and Velvet want children, and I want to aid in that." Her expression softened at the man's honesty, lightly punching his arm with a smile.

"It's hard to think people see you as someone to be terrified of, you're just a big softy." He shrugged, neither confirming nor denying her claim. Velvet jumped at him, wrapping her arms as far around him as they could go - even after all these years, she could never quite get her fingers to touch when she hugged him - and firing off a rapid stream of "thank yous" at him.

When Coco told everyone that she was going to carry their child a few days later after they had finalised the initial plan with Yatsuhashi, Fox and Neo added this to the list of things that dumbfounded them in the past few weeks.

{" _I feel compelled to ask why,_ "} Neo began after willing her brain to function properly.

"I'm with Ni, I'd have pinned you as more of the Father-figure rather than the Mom, Coco. Plus, won't your scar affected it, considering where it hit you?"

"I know, but I only have so many middle fingers to hold up to my Mother - having a kid opens up a whole new range of ways to piss her off. And the first one would be to have it illegitimately - i.e., the not-fun way. The second would be to have my wife as the person who is 'impregnating me' so to speak and a third would be to be the one to carry when I have 'a woman by your side who could do that for you'. Honestly, we've fought Strigis(#) with their heads on backwards less that Kara. And no, it shouldn't - the blade didn't go anywhere near my womb, so that's still safe."

"Don't even get her started on the fact she'll be doing nothing productive for months, or that her body will be 'ruined' with stretch marks, or a whole plethora of other things that she can't wait to tell her Mom about in her overcharged hormonal state."

"Kara is going to fucking hate me, and it will be glorious~!" she practically sang in delight.

True to her word, as the first trimester became the second and even into the third, the name Coco Scarlatina became the bane of Kara Adel's existence. Phone calls were made on the regular purely to inform her how much she'd grown, photos - some taken by Coco of herself, others artistically done by her loving Mate - sent like clockwork showing the growth as well, among many, _many_ other things. Coco found it hilarious, as did all of her team. It even got to the point that all of them, with the exception of one at a time, posed in photos as well to really mess with her - but never Coco, she _had_ to be in every single one of the artistic ones herself, she wanted to look amazing, even if at times she felt like she looked like "a beach whale with a beret".

* * *

And here they were now, many months down the line, with a beautiful baby girl wrapped in towels in her Mother's arms.

"Yatsuhashi, your planning and research and willingness to do what you did has made the fact I am currently holding a minutes old baby in my arms that contains predominantly mine and Velvet's DNA in it, with hint traces of you naturally. I don't want you to ever think that what you do is nothing short of amazing, for all of us. I want you to know that you are loved."

"I-"

"And before you say it, I _know_ you don't love back, but _we_ all love _you_. Fox loves you. Neo loves you. And judging by what's coming through the Mark, these two Scarlatinas love you even more."

"What about the third?" he asked, indicating towards the baby, who was peacefully resting after her initial crying after leaving the womb.

"Yeah, Clemmie's going to love you two." The giant stifled a giggle as Neo and Fox did the same, with the Faunus of the group massaging her temples in an effort to calm the headache that had suddenly appeared. "What?"

"You dropped the name bomb," Velvet mentioned, frustration on her face and annoyance in her voice, "after so long of nearly doing it right and avoiding names, you fall at the final hurdle." The fashionista's face heated up with a strong blush. "What am I actually thinking though? How do I feel?" she asked, getting the caramel haired woman to read her Mate Mark instead of her voice and face.

_Playful. Happy._

"You're not angry at me."

"No. Sure, the surprise is gone. But you didn't spill everything."

"... I don't want to anymore Velvs. You do it. I insist," she threw that last part in as she saw her wife drawing breath in protest, something the mage cursed her for noticing.

"Sure. Yatsuhashi Daichi, Orchid and Fox Alistair, we'd like you to be the first three to formally meet, Miss Clementine Scarlatina." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (#)Strigi - the 'Senseless' AU's Owl-like Grimm who, much like some of their real life counterparts, could turn their heads around over 180 degrees.


	8. New Home, New Problems and a Little Help from A Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A combination of Chapters 91 & 92 from the original FFnet upload.

After Clementine had all of her tests to make sure there was nothing wrong with her, and after Coco had fully recovered from the fact she pushed another living being out of her, the two of them headed home, with Neo driving them back to their house. The team had two cars between them - one was a smaller car for when only two, potentially three, of them wanted to head out, the second was a much larger one meant specifically for the whole team and weapons - and currently Neo was driving Mother and Daughter home in the smaller of the two vehicles. She, along with Coco and Velvet, were the only three that had their driving licenses out of the five. Yatsuhashi grew up in Hai-no Hana where there was really no need to large vehicles, as most people walked from place to place or rarely left the village at all, so there was never any need to learn to drive, himself included. And Fox... well, you can't drive if you're blind. Besides, Fox had been the main source of revenue for CFVYN, along with Yatsuhashi. They needed to keep going on missions to keep the pay coming in for things like furniture, their house, their cars, things for Clementine, impulse food runs for heavily pregnant and craving Coco or stressed out of her mind and needing a treat to stop her from exploding Velvet, so he didn't make the find to learn. And whilst he was doing was okay in the short run, everyone noticed recently how drained their copper haired friend had become from doing it constantly for the past months.

"Yatsu," Velvet asked as they were setting things up for when Neo and Coco came home and Fox was on a small food run to the local shops ten minutes away, "why do you think Fox has been doing this?"

"I presume you mean throwing himself into everything, even at the risk of hurting himself?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"I am not sure at all," he answered honestly, pinning the small banner to the ceiling of their front room with a thumb tack. "I know he wants you and Coco to be happy with Clementine at home-"

"Not by putting himself in peril. He does things for us before he does things for himself."

"I agree."

"...Maybe he's lonely," the Rabbit suggested. The team tank paused what he was doing and looked at Velvet, curious as to what her thought process was on the matter. "It's no big secret that he and Neo had a bit of a heated disagreement regarding children at the moment - he wanted one now, she told him to wait until ours was a little more stable before introducing another mouth to feed, yada-yada - and ever since that he's been throwing himself at anything to do with us and Clementine. I think, heck I _know_ he wants children of his own. As does Neo. I think we're going to do something about it soon. He and Neo chose to stay here with us rather than going away from their anniversary last month despite constant protests on mine and Coco's parts."

"And mine too."

"There we are then; they're overdue a holiday, and we're going to make them have a discussion about children beforehand." The giant nodded before returning to setting up the room for their guests. Fox returned home carrying three bags worth of food, not only for now but also for the week as well, seeing as how they had no new missions lined up or were even planning on taking any on with the Scarlatina new-born at home. After they had all set up, Fox shot upstairs to take a quick nap to save himself from exhausting himself - reaffirming Yatsuhashi and Velvet's resolve to talk to him about this - until they heard a car pulling onto the driveway. The Faunus made sure who it was before calling Fox down, he needed all the sleep and rest he could get. Sure enough, Maggie got out of the car, so Fox got to rest. Velvet peered through the window and saw Maggie, who was carrying a small bag with her, and mimed to keep quiet as she entered, which she agreed to.

"Hey Maggie," Velvet greeted with a hug and friendly peck on the cheek, "so nice of you to join us."

"I wasn't going to miss this. Neo messaged me the moment they were given the all-clear at the Hospital, so they shouldn't be too long now." She made her way inside, everyone keeping their voices low so to not wake Fox. "But enough about them, a congratulations are in order for you Mrs Scarlatina." The lighter coloured Faunus lay her bag down on the coffee table and embraced the Rabbit Faunus in a tight, loving hug. "You're a Mom! That's so crazy to think, considering things."

"I know, but we're both happy."

"Awesome! I got them a little something, I hope that's alright."

"Of course it is Maggie." The Arctic Fox gestured towards the bag, but Velvet declined. "I think we'll wait until Coco and the baby are home first, then we can open it together."

"Suit yourself. Sorry, I haven't said hello to you yet have I big guy?"

"I'm easy to miss," Yatsuhashi joked. "How have you been?"

"Not too bad. Forgot to ask, why are we all speaking in hushed voices?" Yatsuhashi informed her about the fact Fox and Neo had been running around after Coco and Velvet, more so the former than the latter, and were hardly getting much rest as a result, and the fact that it may be stemming from an argument the couple had regarding children. "Wait, didn't Neo _want_ children?"

"She does, but apparently not with us having a kid now," Velvet mentioned. "Her argument was that we wouldn't be able to have two of the more natural leaders and tacticians out of commission on maternity leave, followed by their partners nearer the time _and_ keep the income coming in that's large enough to sustain and support a new family of what would then be seven."

"I... kind of see her logic. And Fox?"

"Believed exactly what she didn't. He thought that we could manage, and that when our team dropped down to a three person team, we could still manage the same level of missions at the same sort of Tier. Over Coco's, and eventually my own, leave from the group, we'd proven that we did alright with a four man team at the same level, but we barely managed three higher Tier missions without one of us nearly dying." Maggie gasped, this was the first she'd heard of this. "So we had to drop down to B-Tier and A-Tier missions to try and bring any revenue in for us. It worked, but some of those missions paid pittance compared to what we normally bring in. It made us realise that we are very fortunate to have graduated as we did. Even with trying to cut our budget down here, pregnancy is an unpredictable monster that had us throwing money at it left, right and centre."

"In the end," Yatsuhashi added, "Fox was trying to sign us up for more missions than we could take on, and he succeeded at first. But when we all grew tired from doing a mission with next to no recovery time afterwards, we attempted to reason with him. He wouldn't listen, said we needed to do what we could for the child and make sure we had enough to support it."

"We did, and we do. We have more than enough every month to get by and then some with a child adding to that, even taking our bills and food shopping out of the equation. He was panicking for us, and we were both panicking pretty badly anyway." Maggie couldn't help but laugh at that, her voice raising high enough to alert the sleeping copper haired man upstairs. "I mean, I was hormonal because of mine and Coco's Link, but also pregnancy realising that I needed to be Mommy as well. And Coco, phew! Don't get me _started_ on what Coco was like." Maggie laughed some more, Yatsuhashi even joined in with the merriment. "I mean, have you ever tried to convince a pregnant person that mint choc chip ice cream doesn't go well with melted cheese and ketchup?"

"Oh Gods, that's sounds horrendous!" the Arctic Fox Faunus chuckled through a shudder and a disgusted voice.

"It was! She made me eat some. I had to run to the bin to spit it out. It tasted like feet. Like, _bad_ feet." Maggie shuddered once again at the thought, laughing as she did. They all stopped when they heard Fox making his way down the stairs, still a little sleepy eyed. "Shit, we were too loud," she whispered. The giant nodded but remained silent.

"Oh, hey Maggie. When'd you get here?"

"'bout five, ten minutes ago. You alright? You look like you need sleep."

"I'm fine," came the slightly snappy response, something he didn't quite realise he'd done, but everyone else sure did. Fortunately, they were saved by the sound of someone else pulling up on the driveway. And with a quick glance outside, they saw it was Coco, Neo and the baby. Yatsuhashi made his way to the door to let the pair inside, making sure that Fox was nowhere near him insisting he could 'do this instead', something he really liked doing especially with menial tasks like this.

"Hey there big guy," Coco said as she got to the door.

"Glad to see you three made it home alright," he responded with a smile.

The fashionista, unburdened by her sunglasses, let her eyes drift backwards towards the tri coloured woman at the car, getting various different things out from it. "Honestly," she mentioned in a hushed tone, "with Neo at the wheel and my precious cargo on board, she would have gone into a full blown panic if even a single hair was out of place on either of us." He nodded with a small sigh, admitting to the sad truth of it all, before stepping out of the way to let the two inside, Neo following a few seconds after with a couple of bags, her smile a 'thank you' and greeting rolled into one.

The Arctic Fox stood with a smile as Coco and the baby came into the living room. "Hi Coco."

"I _knew_ I recognised the car. How are you Maggie?"

"I'm great, thanks. How's everything for you?"

"I couldn't be happier, now that Velvet and I have this little bundle of joy in our lives." As Maggie approached, Coco leaned down towards the bundle in her arms and softly spoke to it. "Now be nice, this is your Godmother you're meeting." The fair haired Faunus let out a small giggle as she came close to the new Mother. "This is Magnolia, she's going to be your Godmother and you'll call her 'Aunt Maggie'. Maggie, meet your Goddaughter; Clementine Scarlatina." As one Faunus gazed at the other, Clementine's eyes opened, and she met the eyes of Carolina blue with her own weak chocolate brown orbs.

"Hi Clementine, I'm your Auntie Maggie," the Faunus cooed. A small smile graced the new-born's face, and Maggie's heart melted with an overabundance of adorable. "Oh my Gods, aren't you just the most adorable little thing?" She fussed over the baby for some time, taking some of the weight off Velvet and Coco's minds as they both needed some breathing room now that their little girl was here. Both Neo and Fox tried to do more than they needed to, especially Fox again, but each time they were told "No!" by either one of, sometimes both, parents. Eventually, Clementine needed sleep, so Velvet took the new-born to her crib in hers and Coco's room, tucking her in all cosily before coming back to join the adults.

"Talk about an eventful day," Velvet sighed, bringing in six small glasses of champagne from the kitchen. She handed everyone a glass before laying the tray down on the table and taking her own.

"Yeah. Pushing a kid out of you _really_ tires you out," Coco admitted.

"Didn't need to know that Coco," Fox mentioned as an aside, barely audible to anyone.

"Sure you didn't, Fox," the fashionista replied with a small smirk. She raised her glass to begin the toast. "To Clementine, and shared parenthood."

"To Clementine." The six of them clinked their glasses together and took a drink. As they finished, Neo started silently coughing, like she had swallowed something nasty.

"Neo? Ni, what's the pro-" But he couldn't finish his question as he too started coughing badly. Their eyes both grew heavy and their brains started to shut down, and before they knew it, they had drifted off into a deep sleep.

The leader sighed, rubbing her temple as Yatsuhashi took the glasses out of their hands. "I wish we didn't have to resort to that," she admitted, smile fading to a much more solemn look. The new Mother turned to Maggie, who was kept in the dark about this and was obviously a little confused as to what had just happened. "They wouldn't have slept if they'd had the choice. Both of them would have been up to look after Clementine in the night if she started crying, even though we're in the same room as her, and they're on the other side of the house. We're eliminating that problem right away, and we're going to have a chat to them tomorrow."

As much as she didn't want to admit that what the three of them had just done was right, Maggie simply nodded her head and said, "Yeah, I understand."

* * *

The Alistairs woke up the next day to the sound of their bedroom door shutting. Opening his eyes first, Fox spotted the remaining three members of Team CFVYN all staring straight at them.

"Mornin' guys..." he mumbled with a yawn, sitting up to talk with them. "What's all this in aid of?"

"This is an intervention," Coco bluntly replied, "for _both of you._ " The harsher tone, along with the glare and heavily emphasised final words from the gunner, was an unspoken command for Fox to wake his sleeping wife for this, one that he abided by with haste.

~ _Neo, hunny, you need to get up._ ~ The mute stirred, her eyes fluttering open. They registered the rest of the team, then drifted shut once more. A couple of seconds later, her brain registered the rest of the team, and at once she was up.

"And it's not morning either." Fox seemed confused, he never slept in; they must be joking. A glance at the clock told the scarred man that they weren't - it was currently 12:37 in the afternoon.

"What did you do to us?" he asked them in equal parts fear and anger, glowering as he did.

"I slipped something into both of your drinks last night, a little lavender essence and trace chloroform concoction. It's the same sort of thing Yatsu and I used back at Beacon we used to get Coco to sleep, only in drinkable liquid form."

"Wait, what?" Velvet continued on, ignoring the obvious confusion of her Mate.

"We needed to discuss something amongst the three of us, and we didn't want you two running around after us like our servants. Especially considering we were talking _about_ you." The pair in bed looked at each other with worried expressions, then, realising that there was no way they would escape this, both sat themselves up properly and made themselves comfortable for what was about to come.

{" _Where's Clementine?_ "}

Neither of the parents looked impressed at Neo's question, and she realised that the second she asked. Yatsuhashi answered for them instead. "She is taking a nap at the moment. Hopefully, if you work with us, we can get this all sorted before she wakes for the afternoon."

"You two are being ridiculous."

"Wow, straight to the point," Fox observed. The glare from his team leader showed that this really wasn't the place to be making jokes.

"You ran around after us like we were incompetent as parents before our child had even come into this world, and even now I feel like you want to shoot off and go nurture her."

"Well, I did want kids," Fox admitted.

{" _As did I,_ "} Neo countered, {" _just not right now, especially with Clementine so young._ "}

"What does that have to do with anything?"

{" _Everything Fox! We don't have enough to support a family of seven, and we didn't have the luxury of losing all of our income._ "}

"Actually," Velvet interjected, breaking up the potential argument, "we do." She got her Scroll out and handed it to the Alistairs. As they read through, Fox's eyes widened, and Neo's swapped to ivory white as they went through it all. On finishing, they stared at the three others in the room, shocked and guilty to say the least.

"Guys, I-"

"You didn't even look, did you?" Velvet tried her hardest not to shout, but she couldn't help but raise her voice there. They shook their heads silently, not wishing to bring about the wrath of an angry Velvet Scarlatina. "Once we had completed our two years and found out we wanted and could actually have kids, we looked up this thing on our Scrolls and found out that there is actually an allowance for anyone in a Huntsman team who becomes pregnant. It's meant to sustain them and their team, bringing in a set amount per month that will make up for any lapses in efficiency due to numbers dropping in the team by one, potentially two. And as two _Huntresses_ taking leave for our own children, we would have been given more than most normal allowances - not by much, but enough to be noticeable."

"I remember that Velvs did actually tell both of you this, but neither of you were in the right frame of mind to even listen properly. We ended up applying for it behind your backs because you were just so focussed on missions."

"..." Fox went to go speak, but the second his mouth opened his brain shut down and he remained there like a dark skinned fish, mouth agape noiselessly. Eventually, he sighed, shutting his mouth and bowing his head in shame. ~ _What have we done, Neo?_ ~

~ _Gods, how blind were we all that time? No offence.~_

A small smile ghosted his way over his face for but a second before it faded away again. ~ _I've had sight for the best part of five years now, I'm over the blind jokes.~_

"And do you know what the worst part about all of that was for us?" Coco asked, arms folded across her chest and stern expression on her face. "You missed your own damn wedding anniversary parading after us!" The lightbulbs over their heads both clicked at the exact same time, and with that they realised how single-minded they had been. "The day in the year where the two of you should have come first, and you spent it running around after Velvet and me, despite us trying to dissuade you from being a pair of fucking idiots - a task we all clearly failed at."

"So, you two _are_ going to take some time off from... well, us. You're going to find somewhere and go on holiday for at the very _least_ a weekend, and in that time, you will talk about what you're going to do about us," Velvet pointed between herself and Coco, and by extension Clementine, "and what you're going to do about kids of your own."

{" _What? Velvet, what's brought that about?_ "}

"Take a wild guess, Neo," the Faunus replied with aggressive sarcasm.

"You now actually _know_ that you can be supported through pregnancy and beyond just as Coco and Velvet had been, so worries about money should be out of the window. Focus on what you two want to do as Husband and Wife, Mother and Father, _not_ as Huntsman and Huntress." Yatsuhashi spoke words of wisdom, ones they listen to immediately.

"Okay, we'll do it."

"Good." Coco unfolded her arms, her displeasure at the couple gone... for the moment. As they both tried to get up to start looking, they fell the second their feet hit the floor, tumbling in unison like drunk ballet dancers. Any tension in the room was gone as Coco, Velvet and Yatsuhashi all began roaring with laughter.

"What the hell was that all about?!"

"Sorry," Velvet 'apologised', "I guess I forgot to mention that the concoction affects motor control as well. You may not be able to walk properly for at least another hour or two."

"And when you do," Coco added, still chortling away, "you'll be walking like someone stuck something up your asses and it's still there!" Coco continued to roll around uproariously as the Alistairs remained lying on the floor, unable to escape the laughter of their leader.

* * *

Searching for a holiday destination for the pair of them was surprisingly difficult. After many minutes of inactivity at the mercy of a laughing Coco Scarlatina and her Mate's knock-out juice, the pair finally managed to move themselves, get something to eat and settle down to look through somewhere to go away from everything for a while. Whilst they were doing that the pair were forbidden to try and do anything regarding Clementine until they had found somewhere for themselves that was approved by the remaining three - something Neo didn't understand why she had to abide to that rule, she _was_ the oldest in here by a handful of years - as being somewhere decently deserving for an anniversary getaway.

~ _It's no use, I keep looking at places that would work well for the team, not for us._ ~ She placed her Scroll down on the armrest and flopped back into the sofa. ~ _This is silly, and stupid and other negative feelings starting with "s".~_ Neo wished she could have conveyed her frustration audibly in groan format, but alas, she could not. Turning to Fox, who wore an expression of equal annoyance at the task, she asked him ~ _do we really need to go on holiday?~_

"Yes!" he shot back without so much as looking up from his Scroll for even the smallest of time frames.

~ _Whoa! Harsh much?_ ~ she tried, aiming to lighten the mood. All that comment did was light a fuse that made the scarred man explode in anger. He spun around to stare at her, his dark copper brown eyes drilling holes into her with the intensity of the stare.

"I don't _care_ about being harsh or not Neo, I care about looking after that child! And the _only_ way they will let us do that is for us to go on this holiday so that I'll be able to care for her again!" Fox turned back before he saw Neo's face of horror at what he'd just said, one that morphed into determined rage in three seconds flat. She grabbed him by the shoulder hard, spinning him to face her.

~ _I want a kid as well Fox,_ ~ she began, her internal voice fuming just as his external one was not a second before, ~ _I have for a while, but I wasn't ready, Velvet and Coco were having one and we didn't look to see if there was an allowance for a Huntress on maternity leave - which we now know there is. So-~_

"Well, that's great and all, but that's nine months away. Clementine is here now, we can help her now."

~ _Do you just want to spend every waking moment going after their kid? Fox, Coco is our team leader, she can handle smelly diapers and night time feedings. For Dust sake, she could be up in a second when you were screaming about The Nothing back at Beacon. And Velvet doesn't even_ _ **need**_ _a radio to hear Clementine starting to whimper, even though they're in the same room. They can manage alone, we can start our own family.~_

"Oh, so are they not family now?"

~ _That's not what I mean by that and you know it! Also, keep your voice down, Clem's around now._ ~

"So what?!" he bellowed, followed by the unsurprising cry of a startled and frightened new-born.

"Really Fox?" Velvet asked as she walked past the pair towards her child, "you have a telepathic link with Neo that means you can talk as loud as you'd like in your heads, and you decide that screaming is the best option with a baby in the house?" Not giving him a chance to answer back, she was already gone.

~ _See? So are you just annoyed that you don't have your own child right here and now?~_

The brawler was slow to answer, his head drooping over to stare at the ground, before he eventually spoke to his wife again. Internally this time. ~ _Yeah, that's the main reason.~_

~ _Why did you say nothing?_ ~

~ _I felt we could work it out eventually, but you were-_ _ **we**_ _were both so stubborn in our approach to this that neither of us were willing to give way to the other's ideas. And, in the end, all we did was push it out of the way. We stayed busy by looking after Velvet and Coco, or running off and doing unnecessary missions, all to avoid talking it out._ ~

~ _Yeah, well look where that's gotten us._ ~ They said nothing more for the moment, letting the silence between them speak volumes.

"Shh, shh, it's alright Clementine, it's alright," they heard in their silence. Velvet was doing a marvellous job at calming her crying daughter down, speaking soothingly to her and rocking her gently in her embrace. Husband and Wife silently praised the Gods that Coco and Yatsuhashi had to go out, else them even being able to have kids would have become an impossibility - Coco had threatened on more than one occasion that she wouldn't hesitate to "change Fox's gender on a whim", something they both have in the back of their minds as an ongoing and incredibly real threat. "It was just Uncle Fox and Auntie Neo having an argument. I know I shouldn't be defending them, but they're having a rough time." Velvet remained in the room, swaying from side to side with Clementine in her arms, not noticing - or at the very least not acknowledging - the heads of couple she was just talking about poking around the door frame. "They want to give you someone to grow up besides and play with, but I can tell that they're lost and unsure."

~ _Well, you're not wrong Velvs,_ ~ Neo commented solemnly to herself and Fox.

"But I promise you, once they have everything sorted between them and they've taken some time to relax for themselves, they're going to come back happier and we'll become a full family again." She lay the child back down in her crib, the crying having subsided and tiredness taking over her young body once again. Velvet watched her for a minute or two, just standing there and smiling down on her daughter. _Gods, that feels so amazing to say._ _ **My**_ _daughter._

She planted a kiss on Clementine's forehead, an action that garnered a small lip curl in response, and then turned to leave the room. When she saw Fox and Neo at the doorway, having not heard them approaching and fully expecting them to still be finding holidays for themselves, she jumped in fright and screamed slightly, clamping her mouth the second she did. Luckily, she caught herself before her scream could really register with Clementine, but her disappointed scowl remained as she ushered them silently away.

"How could you two sneak up on _me?_ " she asked them once they were all back on the sofa away from the child. "Why didn't I hear you?"

{" _Crying child?_ "} Neo offered. {" _Not only did you have to deal with the noise, but the fact you'd be pretty preoccupied with her to notice anything else._ "} The Faunus sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck, admitting that that reasoning sounds fair.

"Did you mean what you said back there? About us being a family again?"

"Of course I did, Fox. We are family, but you two are being a bit disjointed by trying to be too involved with us. Honestly, whilst Coco and Yatsu insisted that we told you that taking a holiday was because you needed to make up for you missing your own anniversary - which isn't technically false - I wanted to say that you also needed to take one to find yourselves again. Be the couple you are, not the maids you are trying to be."

"Why am I a maid?" Fox queried, worrying more about that fact than the whole sentiment behind what Velvet was trying to say.

"Be-"

{" _Because you would look cute in a dress, and an ass like that is begging to be shown off._ "} Fox's face flushed instantly at the remark to the same shade of red as the Faunus currently laughing at him, whether said flush came from embarrassment or flattery he was unsure.

"Neo!" he almost whined.

~ _Fox!_ ~ she mimicked perfectly, bringing about a pout from the man. ~ _See, I can do it too.~_ Petulance lasted seconds before he was consumed by the laughter that was circulating the room.

"Now," the Faunus managed as her laughs dissipated into nothing, but her smile remained, "seeing as I'm not too exhausted for laughing at you this morning-"

~ _We still haven't forgiven her properly for that, have we?~_

~ _Not really, no.~_

~ _Good, I was just checking._ ~

"-and I don't feel like Clementine is going to be making me run around for a while, would you two like some help finding somewhere for your holiday?"

~ _...okay, are we_ _ **sure**_ _we haven't forgiven her yet?_ ~

~ _Don't you dare Neo!_ ~

~ _What? We could use help._ ~

~ _I... damnit, I hate it when you're right.~_

~ _How can you hate me_ _ **all**_ _the time?_ ~

~ _Shut up._ ~ Her response was to wink and stick her tongue out at her husband. Honestly, with gestures like that, you'd be shocked if someone was to tell you that the petite ice cream girl was actually the older of the two by a fair few years. "Yes please, it'd be a huge help to us."

"Did Neo win something?" the Faunus asked, her expression not wavering as she did.

"Damnit, how did you know?"

"Her expression kind of said so, and you rarely ever say 'please' - something you are going to have to change as Clementine is growing up. I'm not having her raised without manners, and if you can start now, she'll look up to you when she's old enough to really learn."

Fox sighed. Is it really _that_ obvious? Looking up and seeing his expression, the small nods they were giving answered his unspoken question clearly. "Thank guys," he replied sarcastically.


	9. A Flying Fu-(you know the rest)

"Spare clothes?"

~ _Uh huh. Weapons?_ ~ Fox extended his bracelets into their rear facing blade mode, answering her question wordlessly. She nodded in return, spinning her parasol along its axis in her hand before partially unsheathing the blade, acknowledging its presence, then sheathing it once more.

"Our license to _carry_ these weapons?" Neo's eyes shot ghostly white as she stared at her husband. "Neo?" She started to pat down her body, frantically searching for their Huntsman licenses on her person. The licenses meant that they could carry their weapons around with them without the need to be stopped on every street corner for proof as to why. Also, free drinks at some places - up to a certain point, of course. "Neo," Fox said again, more annoyed than before. Still she searched on herself, every pocket she had. In her 'search', she deemed to a good strategy to remove her top - a salmon pink knitted turtleneck jumper - and bra to search in the inside of the latter. She even had the gall to offer him the bra to look through, the gesture of extending both of her arms forward deliberately accentuating her breasts to distracting levels. "Yes, your boobs are very nice hunny, now stop playing around. It doesn't work when what you were 'trying to search for' was clearly in my view and had been the entire time." Neo stopped, following Fox's eyes down towards a single spot on the bed just underneath the single suitcase they were sharing for the trip, right at two Huntsman licenses; one for Mr. Fox Alistair, the other for Mrs. Orchid "Neo" Alistair.

~ _Couldn't you have just played along?_ ~ she asked as she scooped up the licenses and stowed them away safely in the bag. Fox shook his head at the question. ~ _Not even for a minute or two?_ ~

"When we're on the clock to get the Airship to South-East Vacuo if we want all five days of our late-anniversary holiday, probably not."

~ _And whose fault is it that we're celebrating our anniversary late?~_

"Ours, collectively."

~ _Yup!_ ~ she replied, somehow still popping the 'p' even inside his head. ~ _Now; sunglasses?_ ~ He flicked his pair open and proceeded to wear them as an answer.

"I think I've got mine." She rolled her eyes at the obvious statement, putting her bra back on but leaving the turtleneck off - Vacuo isn't exactly a jumper weather place, more a sundresses, shorts and swimwear type of place.

"Tickets?" came Yatsuhashi's call from outside the room.

"Yes Yatsu, they're right he- um... Ni, do you have the tickets?"

~ _I thought you had them._ ~

"No, I thought _you_ did." There was a brief moment of the pair looking around their immediate vicinity before locking onto each other's eyes, and the look they sent each other spoke volumes - the other didn't have the tickets, and they weren't joking.

"Shit!"  
~ _Shit!~_

Their searching effort doubled as they were now looking in every nook and cranny they could find in the room in an attempt to locate the two tickets.

"Did you ask us if we'd seen them?" the booming voice came again from outside.

"No, we haven't."

"...Are you going to?" he prompted.

"Urgh, fine. Yatsu, where are our tickets?"

"They are currently in my hand." Both Alistairs stopped searching, turned to face one another, nodded, reached for their partner's hand and Neo teleported them both to the dining room where Yatsuhashi was waiting - all of this within a second or two. "You told me to keep them with me rather than yourselves so that you didn't forget or lose them. And, fortunately for you," he admitted as he flicked the two cards towards the two holiday-goers, "I don't have someone to distract me from forgetting this." Neo wanted so bad to throw a remark back at him about 'actually having someone' or something, but to say it would have in poor taste to do so would have been majorly downplaying that statement.

{" _Thanks for reminding us, big guy._ "}

"Any time Neo. You two were stressed enough as is to have this worry piled on top." Coco and Velvet entered the room now with Clementine in tow.

"You two ready to bounce?" their leader asked whilst cradling their child in her arms.

"You're talking about us, right? Not your boobs?"

"Okay, you need to take your head out of the gutter Fox. Of course I was talking about you."

"Just checking." Neo swore she heard Coco mutter "sure you were..." under her breath as Fox continued. "Yeah, we're all packed and ready to go."

"Now remember," Velvet cautioned, "Lac Filio is one of the only remaining oases in Vacuo, so don't do anything rash. Vacuans are accommodating, but can be pretty ruthless if you get on their bad side."

{" _We know,_ "} Neo replied, {" _we've seen Shade students at 41st and 42nd Vytal Festival do pretty well, especially considering they had the home-field advantage in 41._ "}

"The regular folk there aren't as pleasant as the students though. I'd still watch your step."

"Duly noted Coco." The couple went in and initiated a group hug around Coco and Clementine, all smiling and happy with where they all collectively were in their lives.

"Now come on you two, I didn't spend hours looking for places for you to go for you to miss your flight over there. Let's go, let's go!" Velvet's less that subtle way of getting husband and wife out the door was effective, as they grabbed their things, loaded them into the car and were ready to go. "I'll get them there safely."

"You'd better," Coco replied, smirk on her face, "our daughter wants a cousin to play with, don't you Clemmie? 'Yes I do Mommy.' See?"

"I don't believe you sometimes," the Faunus laughed, surprised that her Mate just gave their child a voice to 'talk' to her with. It was kind of cute, even if the voice was a bit weird and off-putting. The little off-handed comment wasn't lost on Neo or Fox though, as they both registered it with a glance towards their other half. Velvet kissed both Coco and Clementine, then joined the holiday-bound couple in the car, sitting in the driver's seat as she was going to take them to their flight so that the three back at home had both their cars to use while Neo and Fox were away. "Right, let's get you two on holiday."

{" _That_ _keen to get rid of us, eh Velvet?_ "} Neo signed from the front passenger seat.

"Yup; it's going to be peace and quiet for a whole four days, and it'll be lovely." Fox chuckled as they reversed off their driveway, waving at their teammates as they left their view. "Next stop, the Airport."

* * *

Velvet got a wave from Fox and a kiss from Neo as they took all their things and left for their terminal. Going through all their checks and eventually getting to where they needed to be, when they looked at the ship carrying them to South-East Vacuo Airport, they commented on how it was a lot different to all the ships they had been on before when travelling up to Atlas or even to Mistral. Even with its large size and two levels, the vessel looked a lot less grand than the other Kingdoms' large passenger ships. While there is no way it could be, at the very least it _looked_ like it was pieced together in a functional, yet much more rag-tag, style - very akin to the rest of Vacuo, if Neo was to be completely honest. The dark browns and greys of the ship also gave it a much earthier colouring, with hints of a much brighter colour pallet underneath visible on occasion as they boarded the ship. It also was a lot less luxurious than the Atlas one (for good reason), but still came with beds for passengers to relax in, although the space was much tighter than before. The pair settled down to their bunk after the regular take off procedure had occurred.

~ _Well, the holiday's on now,_ ~ she commented, snuggling up close to her husband for warmth and comfort.

"Yeah. So, what's the first step?"

~ _I think,_ ~ she began, ~ _that we need to talk about children. Then, once that's out of the way, we move onto the fun part of actually trying for children.~_ As she spoke about it, she walked her fingers up her husband's chest, playing with him and very strongly hinting at her own thoughts on the matter. ~ _What do you think about that Fox?~_

"I think," he answered with a grin, rolling over so that he lay on top of her, "that you've got a very good idea going."

~ _I'm glad you think so,_ ~ she replied with a smile, her slight glance down at his lips all the indication he needed to lean in and kiss her.

* * *

"I'm not betting," Velvet affirmed.

"Come on Cottontail, it's just a bit of fun."

"It's fun at our friends' and teammates' expense," she clarified, so no.

"You're just worried you're going to lose, aren't you?" Maggie joked. The Rabbit stared down the Arctic Fox, angry at the accusation thrown her way. "I'm not hearing a no~" she sang, still pushing the smaller Faunus' buttons.

"Velvs, even Yatsuhashi's gotten in on this one. C'mon, it's just a bit of fun."

"So you've said..." Chocolate brown eyes glanced around at the remaining three in the room. Clementine was, once again, taking a nap in her cot, so that left the three adults of the house alone. Maggie joined them soon after, and one of them suggested that they place some bets on Neo and Fox while away.

_Determination._

Velvet glanced over at her Mate, taking a longer look at her than she did the others, wondering why she got that wave of emotions coming through. "Listen sweetie, we all know how competitive you can get from time to time. This is just the same sort of thing. Only difference - this one entirely plans on things out of our control. That's what makes this one so much more exciting!" She walked closer, leaning in to whisper something in her Rabbit ears. "And if you enter and win, I'll let you take charge for a whole week - if you catch my drift." Oh, Velvet caught her drift alright. Within an instant, the Rabbit's ears perked up in excitement and she placed her bets.

"I'm saying, 'Airship over there' and 'nineteen times'."

"Nineteen?!" Velvet nodded at her choice. "Wow, do you really not think they have any restraint at all?" Maggie asked. Then she scoffed playfully, adding, "and I thought _you_ were the one who had the Rabbit-like sexual tendencies."

"I do," she replied, not elaborating on which part of the Arctic Fox's sentence she was accepting as she got out her Lien and split it between the two envelopes they had in front of them on the table, "but I also think that they're going to take our words to heart regarding giving Clementine a cousin. They'll be trying a lot, and I think they'll try on the way over."

"If you say so hun," Coco replied with a shrug, sealing the envelopes and hiding them away from everyone, only to be touched when the pair returned.

* * *

Fox huffed from exhaustion as Neo leaned back on top of him, her bare back resting against his chest, both naked and sweaty from their most recent encounter. Neo shifted her weight slightly to rest on one side, turned her head and kissed her husband lovingly.

~ _I love you. You know that, right?_ ~

"Of course I do Neo. And I love you too." He removed himself from her and shifted their weights on their bed so that they could be comfortable, pulling the non-dirtied side of their cover over them so they had some semblance of decency about them.

~ _At least they can't say we didn't try,_ ~ the mute observed, resting her head on the pillow below. ~ _We've already had you firing out of the gate twice now, and we haven't even touched down on Vacuo.~_

"As much as I want to say I didn't want that to happen, because come on-"

~ _I think you mispronounced "in", Fox.~_

"Hush you. But seriously, what guy _wouldn't_ want to experience two so close together?"

~ _An idiot. Something that you, clearly, are not._ ~

"I will take that as a compliment." She smiled, and he leaned in to peck her on the cheek. "I'm unsure how you managed it, but it was fantastic."

The ice cream girl double tapped the side of her nose with a finger, saying how that was for ~ _me to know, and you to never know. Unless you've expanded your sexual horizons. I'm sure Quentin would be grateful for someone at the moment, he seemed pretty lonely last time we spoke.~_

"Nah, I think I'll stick to the normal 'Guy & Girl' thing, if it's all the same to you; you can keep your sexual secret and your love for everyone." Satisfied with his answer, she nodded once in affirmation and settled down again next to him, wanting to rest now rather than do anything else. "But when did you speak to Quentin?"

~ _Oh, about a week or so ago - I think you were out getting the groceries with Coco when he called. It was brief, but in that time, he managed to mention his lack of a partner. I have to say, he picked up Sign Language very fast, even in his two years mandatory service.~_

"Agreed. We need to make some time to see them again." She had the same thoughts, and they put the idea on the back burner so that they could discuss it at a later date. For now, they were focussed on relaxing before reaching their destination.


	10. Welcome to Occulta

Both Neo and Fox had been in fights before - it came as part of the job description of Huntsmen and Huntresses that you would undoubtedly be in fights; whether they be against Creatures of Grimm, or Bandits, or even other Huntsmen in friendly spars or full on battles. And, having been in many fights up to this point in their lives, they were fairly used to being hit. But when they got to the open door of the airship taking them to Lac Filio, they both agreed it was like being slapped in the face by a wave of uncompromising heat. Fox even stumbled slightly at the proverbial slap of heat.

Once checks were done and they had made it to the much smaller airships, both people were already sweating profusely in the extreme heat of the midday sun. The couple made their way to the district of Lac Filio their hotel was in - the Northernmost province of the city, Occulta - via Bullhead, receiving only a few odd glances from some locals. When they got to the hotel though, they were greeted by a much friendlier person at the hotel front desk.

"Welcome to the Occulta Hotel!" he began. The man was a Faunus, evident through his thick, armour-like plating covering his shoulders and back. An armadillo Faunus, with lightly tanned skin adorned with faint wrinkles that gave away his age, or at least his age bracket, and a rich brown head of hair. He didn't wear a shirt - his shell probably had something to do with that - but he did wear a pair of sand coloured trousers that looked fairly light and airy, perfect for weather conditions like these. "Ah, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Alistair, no?"

"We are, yes."

"Ah, good. Would you like me to take your things, madam?" She shook her head, asking Fox to say 'No thank you' to his request on her behalf.

"She says 'no thank you', Mr?... um..."

"Ulata. Cing Ulata. And forgive me, it might be my age creeping up on me, but I didn't hear anyone say anything."

"Oh, sorry. My wife is mute, but we can communicate with each other. That's why you didn't hear her."

The Armadillo gasped at his own initial ignorance, saying, "My dear, I am so sorry for that! If I had known, I wouldn't have asked. Please, forgive me."

"Cing, there's nothing to forgive you for. You didn't know, it's an honest mistake. No, we'll take our things to our own room, if you'd kindly direct us there."

"Second floor, Room 2H." They went to leave the lobby, but the Faunus crossed the gap between him and the couple surprisingly fast, grabbing onto the man's forearm, shocking both of them at his speed considering his advanced age. Neo's eyes even flashed ivory white at the shock. "You don't know what it means for someone to be cordial to me. Thank you."

"...Neo's asking if... well, I guess I'm asking too; are people usually mean to you?"

"Oh yes, a lot of the time they are. I know you outsiders say that 'In Vacuo, if you can survive here, you are welcome here' about us, and that is true. But that doesn't mean we are all nice to one another once we're here. Admittedly, it is only a select handful of people, but that's more than enough to cause disruption every which way you turn. And most of the foreigners such as yourselves are the main culprits. They come expecting great Vacuan hospitality, then ask us to bend over backwards to do things _their_ way, not ours. I can already tell, you two are going to be so much friendlier than the others."

' _Let me say this one._ ' Fox nodded slightly as Neo took out her Scroll and typed away.

**We will do our best to stay out of your hair.**

"Oh no, no, no, please don't hesitate to ask myself or any of the staff to help you. It's what we're here for."

"We don't want to impose if you'd ra-"

"My boy," the older man simply said, resting his hand on the Huntsman's shoulder, "we folk here in Vacuo that are actually pleasant don't want you to have any misfortune during your... uh... why were you two here again?"

"Our belated anniversary."

"Ah yes, I remember now." With a small, almost self-pitying sigh, Cing continued. "Age really _is_ catching up to me. Anyway, we want you to enjoy your anniversary away, however belated it may be, and if that means helping you in any way we can, then we'll do it." Fox thanked the man for his words of wisdom and Neo silently bowed as they took their things up to their room.

It was decent in size, large enough to comfortably house both of them for the three nights they'd be staying here, with a queen size bed in the middle of the room next to the wall that housed their en suite bathroom. Courtesy of Velvet throwing a little of her own money in for the trip - they'd have to bring something special back for her - there was a small terrace on the far wall behind a glass sliding door, staring out onto the rest of the oasis. It wasn't the best sight; at least, not at the moment - supposedly, when the sun goes down and the night lights shine, the view is magnificent. And when night would eventually come around, they had it there to view at their leisure.

"So," Fox started, laying his bag down near the edge of the bed, "welcome to our room for the next three nights. We can unpack now; we can head out and get lunch in Lac Filio, we can explore the hotel itself quickly and maybe grab lunch in here; what do you want to do first?"

~ _Is "you" an acceptable answer to the question?_ ~ Tapping his chin, Fox pondered on that thought... for about three seconds. After that time had elapsed, he scooped Neo up bridal style with a large grin on his face.

"I think I can live with 'you' being an answer." Her own grin growing after the shock that proceeded, she wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carry her to their bed.

* * *

Three rounds, a shower and a combined unpacking and wardrobe change later, the couple headed out into the city. The overpowering midday heat got to the Vale couple, so they made notes to either carry around a couple of their Ice Dust shards to cool them down, or to just outright avoid going in direct sunlight during the peak sun time, but the much more manageable temperature at 3:00pm - as it was now - gave them both a chance to explore the city they'd be spending the next three days in without the Dust.

Unlike back in Vale, Lac Filio was in no way a seaside town. All of the oases - essentially what the majority of the locals called their sprawling cities - in Vacuo were situated further inland, with Lac Filio actually being the closest to the ocean, but said body of water was easily 10 miles away at its shortest point. What Lac Filio - specifically Occulta, as husband and wife both said that they weren't planning on wondering too far away from the hotel today - had to offer instead of things like fishing boats and promenades were things like trading posts on the outskirts of the oasis for people to check in and make sure they're safe, to lots of summer wear clothing stores. Even in the city with much taller buildings than they'd seen before in a typical town in Vacuo, things were still spaced out enough to not feel overly crowded like in a busier metropolis like Vale or Atlas.

"It's so different to Vale," Fox commented, taking in the sights around him. He was wearing a pair of burgundy chino shorts with navy slip on plimsolls and an open white shirt, topping the look off with his sunglasses that were now for a practical use as opposed to protecting him from the hypnotic effects of a weird squid Grimm. Neo too had changed, favouring a mint green spaghetti top and some mid-thigh length pale denim shorts, along with her own pair of sunglasses, a white sun hat and white pumps on her feet. She was taking pictures on her Scroll of anywhere that looked really interesting to her, some with Fox in as well as just some with the place or thing itself. Although she and Fox were on holiday for themselves, she always wanted to share their experience with the rest of their team back home. "Even in this part of the city, it's crazy to see how different all the buildings are."

~ _Yup. But even then, for an oasis, this is surprisingly less refined than I thought it would be, especially in Occulta.~_

"What do you mean?"

~ _I mean, when someone says that "Lac Filio is a sprawling oasis in the middle of the Vacuan deserts", would you picture a metropolis where everywhere is blossoming into a highly functioning place to live even in the harsh conditions they found themselves in, or a small city like this where the prosperous in the middle thrive and the edges are left to house the broken?~_

~ _I get where you're coming from Ni,_ ~ Fox admitted, switching to his inner voice on the off chance that someone overheard and was less than happy about their conversation topic, ~ _but aren't_ _ **all**_ _metropolises like that?_ ~

~ _Yeah, I guess, But I did not expect it to be at this sort of level. There is such a clear divide between where all the Lien is clearly going in spades and where it's going on occasion. It just... doesn't feel right to me. Don't get me wrong, it's still a beautiful part of the city, it's just so polarising to see this against parts of the city centre.~_

~ _It wasn't going to be perfect Neo,_ ~ Fox tried assuring her, ~ _I see where you're coming from, but Vacuo is still struggling with... well, everything. Extreme weather, mining towns running on fumes, Grimm attacks on the regular, depleting resources. These oases are trying their best, we knew that when we chose to come here._ ~ She nodded, accepting what she heard not because she really wanted to, but because it seemed easier than the alternative of arguing with him. "Come on, let's go see what Vacuan ice cream tastes like, eh?"

~ _Sure! I want the one with the lemon/lime and honeycomb, or macadamia nuts if they don't have those.~_

"Wow, that perked you up far better than I expected it to." She shrugged, linking her arm with his and walking off to go find an ice cream parlour.

* * *

Visiting different places opened up so many new possibilities for discovery. Vale is a hard "Middle of the Road" type Kingdom; the weather is always decent, the terrain mostly flat with varying areas of interest around, such as the Emerald Forest and Forever Fall, but also much hillier terrains on the outskirts of the Kingdom, and with generally average architectural designs. In contrast to that, Vacuo was very abstract in terms of how it dealt with not only its conditions - blistering days, Atlas-level cold nights - but also its architecture. Most places in Vacuo were tents and hastily constructed huts made for the ever-relocating populous of the Kingdom. Those places that were something more than that, specifically the Oases of Vacuo, had towering structures and such weird and wonderful ways of making them unique to all of their fellow Kingdom counterparts.

For example, right now Fox and Neo were lounging about on a sun chair each atop a seven storey high rise with a parasol shading them from the sun, the ice cream parlour the couple were searching for earlier a few metres behind them on the roof as well. Currently, they were overlooking the skyline of Occulta bathed in the golden light of the late afternoon sun, with an ice cream each in hand.

Fox got an ice cream called the Atlas Blast; a spearmint ice cream with trace amounts of blue raspberry in there to not only add the wintery blue colour, but to stop it from being just a pure spearmint ice cream. He had to admit, it was surprisingly delicious, given the odd combination of flavours used, and it was a cooling taste even before the ice cream to boot.

Neo got the lemon/lime and honeycomb ice cream she wanted, which here they called a Citrus Lancer, and was licking the dairy treat slowly as she and her husband stared out over the sights before them.

~ _I'm glad we did this,_ ~ she mused, her talking uninhibited by her eating because of her internal communication with him, ~ _it's so peaceful up here, and the view is stunning.~_

"Yes, it is." Se instinctively turned towards him, and saw the tan skinned man staring directly at her with a beaming smile on his face. The response brought about a silent laugh and a roll of her eyes as she looked back out to the horizon. "Oh come on, you knew that was coming."

~ _You say that a lot, but I'm still taken by surprise by what you do from time to time - am I not allowed to be surprised from time to time?~_

"Well, yeah, of course. But through all the time we've been together, I've pulled that one so many times I thought you'd have wisened up to it by now."

The tri coloured girl lowered her sunglasses and shot him a look of playful scepticism, her eyes both shooting pink as she spoke to him. ~ _Who says I haven't? I could have just been playing along for your own self pleasure, because you find it so endearing to see me fall for the same joke you've told basically since we started together back at Beacon._ ~ The thought behind that stumped him for a moment, doing his best to see whether she was indeed telling the truth, or whether she just found a way of confu- ~ _I'm just messing with you hun,_ ~ she confirmed as she placed a kiss on his lips, having crossed the distance between their two sun chairs as he was lost deep in thought. ~ _I did fall for it; have done basically every time you have done it. I know you're going to do it, it's almost like clockwork now, but I still fall every time.~_

Fox smiled, leaning up again to place a loving kiss on the tip of his wife's nose. She smiled back, responding by appropriating his ice cream, taking a small scoop of it with her finger and dolloping said scoop on Fox's nose, then promptly returning the ice cream before he could even respond. "Really?!" he cried, reeling back in shock at the action. Neo laughed silently, jumping back from him to give him room - mentally and physically - to process what had just occurred. A couple of other patrons looked over to see the scarred Huntsman rubbing the blue treat off his nose whilst another, his wife, was there smiling cheekily with an ice cream in one hand and the remnants of his on her other hand.

As Fox looked up at his wife, the mute smirked, her eyes swap their colours from the norm to the inverse as she licked the remaining ice cream she had off her fingers. But not normally in any way, she just _had_ to do it in the most seductive way she could imagine, even when they were both in public. The woman stuck her tongue out, the muscle extending towards her fingers as slowly as she dared go, with a smile never leaving her face. As she got closer, she moved the treat covered finger so that she could let her tongue circle around it, cleaning the whole tip as 'thoroughly' as she could. Then, she took her finger and finally cleaned the treat off completely, sticking most of it in her mouth to clean it, before pulling said finger out again with a satisfying pop, a small sliver of saliva bridging the gap between mouth and digit.

No sooner had she finished that did she find herself scooped into Fox's arms. ~ _Going somewhere, are we?~_

~ _Back to the room. Someone's been incredibly suggestive with her eating habits, and frankly, it's gotten me riled up a bit._ ~ He made sure that he had both his Scroll and Neo's on him before starting to walk off.

~ _Oh? Feeling a little raunchy are we lover boy?~_

~ _Why don't we get back to the room and find out?~_

~ _And you're willing to take the slow, painful elevator ride down to ground level, and haul me like this all the way across Occulta, just to get in my panties **again**?_~ He slowed down to a pace that was barely moving at all after hearing that, her logic undeniably truthful. ~ _As sweet as that is, I've got a better idea._ ~ No verbal acknowledgement came from Fox, simply a raised eyebrow, as he tightened his hold around his wife. Feeling his strong hands around her thighs, she used that cue to not only wrap her own arms around his neck, but also to teleport away from the roof they were on to the furthest away she could manage from here, back towards their hotel nearer the opposite edge if Occulta. They didn't leave without a trace though, as a piece of paper drifted on the warm air towards the owner of the rooftop business, who had seen what he believed was an altercation between customers that he needed to break up, only for them to seemingly reconcile and disappear, leaving only the note behind.

 **To the Owner** , it read,

**We both** ** loved ** **what you have done here. We're from Vale, so seeing something like this was refreshing and it really lifted our spirits.**

**So, as a gift, we left you 1,000 Lien for your trouble and service. We also left 500 Lien to pay it forward. Anything from single, small items over multiple transactions to giant orders, your transactions for the next 500 Lien have been covered by us!**

**Yours,**

**Fox and Neo Alistair, Vale Huntsmen** The man couldn't quite believe his eyes; true to their word, there were 2 piles of Lien waiting for him spot by these strangers, those he now knew as Vale Huntsmen.

Said Huntsmen had been teleporting back towards their room a few times before Aura exhaustion caused Neo to stop and pant like air was a rare commodity at this point. Even now, at 16:30, the air was hot and sticky in her mouth, and breathing hurt, and whilst she managed to cover a fair amount of ground and could see their hotel from the rooftop they were on, they had a fair way to go.

"You know, with the benefit of hindsight, teleporting constantly to get back sooner really wasn't the smartest idea you've had." He let her go, the mute dropping to her hands and knees to lessen the strain on her lungs. "Especially as you're teleporting from rooftop to rooftop."

Neo turned to glare at the man beside her, uttering a mental ~ _Fuck you,_ ~ as she still tried to swallow her breaths.

"Well, with how you're currently positioned, I'd be inclined to think you were willing already." She turned to see herself, realising that she did indeed look rather provocative the way she was. Not wanting to give him a glimmer of hope - at least, not until the hotel - she let her arms and legs succumb to the exhaustion and flopped straight onto the rooftop, rolling over onto her back for ease of breathing as well.

~ _As much as I love you and what we're trying to achieve with having children, must we turn_ _ **everything**_ _this week into an opportunity to have sex? I mean, you know I'm not complaining about the sex in any way, you're fantastic-~_

"Why thank you, I aim to please."

Neo rolled her eyes before continuing. ~ _-but this is supposed to be a trip for ourselves. I know sex is a part of our relationship, but so far we've spent so much time on this trip thinking about sex or dealing with things around sex that it's already starting to become a little stale for me._ ~ Listening to what she had to say, and not wanting her to feel left out, Fox also lay down on the rooftop, the cream coloured tiles reflecting light from below them to make it shine brilliantly in the late afternoon sun. ~ _We have multiple days to ourselves with no Coco, no Velvet, no Yatsu, no missions, no distractions. Just us and Lac Filio. Can't we enjoy this city, experience things it has to offer, rather than each other's intimate company?~_

"Yeah, sure," he agreed. "I mean, we can do that any time we want, can't we?"

~ _I take it by "that", you're actually meaning "each other"?~_

"More or less. How often are we going to come back to Vacuo, missions excluded?" Rhetorical question, something Neo picked up on as she simple glanced over at Fox. "I think you and I should do a lot of exploring tomorrow. We'll have a good rest tonight-" Neo mentally guffawed at that; knowing where her mind currently was and where Fox's had been, sleep probably wasn't going to happen for a while after they'd gotten back, "-then we can go to the far side of the city and see what we can do over there tomorrow. Then maybe the day after we can sleep in later and explore the city at night time, see the lights of Lac Filio. That'll give us our last day to do a little bit of souvenir shopping, unless we can fit that in on any other day."

~ _Sounds like a plan._ ~ The tri coloured woman leaned across and placed her hand out to one side, a gesture Fox mirrored, grabbing her hand in his own as they lay there peacefully. ~ _One quick question though.~_

"Hm?"

~' _How are we meant to get down from here?~_

Fox's dark copper brown eyes widened, his neck snapped up to stare around him and he, too, asked himself, "How _are_ we meant to get down from here?" Neo couldn't teleport for a while, not if she'd exhausted her Aura completely. To make sure she wasn't bluffing, though she never has with something like this before, Fox checked on his Scroll. Yup, 1% Aura; she had barely made it here without it breaking. She didn't have her parasol with her either, so they couldn't float down to the ground, or at the absolute least a lower building. Fox's Aura could most likely survive the fall on his own, at worst it would only just make it. But having to brace against the added impact with Neo in his arms would shatter his Aura and leave them both completely drained without any hope of making it back to the hotel, and with Fox nursing at the very least two shattered legs and probably paralysis from the hips downwards. The best they could do at this point was wait it out, and he relayed that to Neo as best as he could without things sounding too bleak.

~ _Well then,_ ~ she said, rolling over and straddling her husband, not seeing the bleak side at all, ~ _it's a good thing that air traffic in Vacuo is pretty low then, isn't it? And that my Aura broke on the tallest building in Occulta._ ~ She smirked, removing her top and bra, leaving her chest free to the world. ~ _I can't say I've ever had sex atop a building before. Have you?~_ she queried, knowing full well that she was his first and that - even counting the handful of group… experiences that they, Coco, Velvet and others on occasion have had - she had been there every single time he has had sex.

"I don't think I ever have either. Looks like we can add that to the list as yet _another_ thing you can claim to have been my first for." Neo didn't wait around much longer, her hand trailing down Fox's body as her face leaned down to passionately kiss him.


	11. Early to Rise, Mid Morning Surprise

Breakfast that was served the following morning was plentiful. For a Kingdom commonly known for its sparsity, seeing what their definition of a grand feast would be was truly spectacular. Food started to be served at around 6:00am, which seemed ridiculous in most circumstances and for most Kingdoms, the military-styled Atlas Academy being an obvious exception. But for Vacuans, having breakfast this early meant that the Kingdom's inhabitants could go out and enjoy their days before the sun got too high in the sky and made everyone sweaty and unwilling to do anything.

There were some exceptions, such as the few brave/stupid aquatic Faunus had who ventured out to what amounted to a giant desert Kingdom for a different life, taking their refuge in the pools and fountains for a few hours every day to save themselves from frying, and the Tortoise Faunus that amble along slowly but are protected by their large shells on their backs. Also, the couple spotted a family of Jerboa Faunus yesterday, a rare rodent Faunus with long, almost kangaroo like legs that often bury themselves in the sand during the warmer hours of the day. It is quite comical to see a family of people suddenly digging themselves out from being underground, having not been seen for hours on end.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Fox queried before munching down on a fried egg he'd sandwiched between two slightly-toasted pieces of bread.

~ _I say we go right to the far side of Lac Filio,_ ~ his wife answered, eating once again not stopping a conversation from happening. Fox was jealous she could do that. That was, until his brain caught up with him and he remembered that _he_ could do that too. ~ _We can explore the area further, hopefully we can find something not too expensive to do during peak sun time, then we can explore a little more in the afternoon before heading back later.~_

~ _I like the sound of that._ ~

~ _I'd hope so,~_ she mentioned, ~ _because that's the only option you're getting today._ ~ The tan skinned man paused where he was, his mouth open and awaiting the bite of food he was about to take, but his eyes narrowed instead. Their intended target, the smug looking Neo sat opposite, simply grinned as the runny yolk of his fried egg sandwich oozed out onto his lap. ~ _I hope you weren't planning on going out in that,_ ' she asked innocently, ' _we wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea now, would we?~_

"You're incorrigible."

~ _Guilty,_ ~ she replied, happily taking another bite of her breakfast.

* * *

The sight of large crowds of people greeted the couple as they departed from the Bullhead ride over to the far side of Lac Filio. This new province, Ignotis, contained so many different things that the couple wouldn't have associated with a place like Vacuo, not that there was anything wrong with that. There were large areas for shows and performances, recreational park areas that could be used by adults and children alike - though it didn't have any real grass there for reasons the couple could only assume to be "too hot, grass would die instantly", so it was either covered in fake grass or that multi-coloured rubber tarmac. But what surprised them most was the insanely large shopping mall that occupied the vast majority of the central area of Ignotis.

~ _How did we **not** see this on the flight in?_~ Neo managed after a long bout of nothing but silent staring. Fox glanced up, noticing the tips of trees - real or not, he'd yet to decide - atop the large structure along with what appeared to be some other foliage.

"I have an idea, but we'll need to go up and check to see if I'm right. In the meantime, let's have a wonder around the rest of Ignotis before we go into the mall." Neo nodded without taking her eyes off the building until she absolutely needed to, and even after the pair rounded a corner and into the first of many shops, they were bound to go in today Neo still kept her heterochrome eyes trained on where the imposing structure was.

The first store Fox walked into was a pharmaceutical store of sorts - not the sort of place he would have immediately gone to, but in his defence, he was just going into the first place around to get Neo to focus on something other than the mall. The store itself was small, an intimate establishment positioned with a major corner store and a clothes shop either side it, and housed very few items to sell - on the shop floor, at least. Judging by the fact the vast majority of the items on store were in empty and open bottles, whoever owned the store had a large stockpile out back of what he needed.

"Greetings," came a voice from behind the counter, surprising Fox so much he let out a little cry and instinctively clenched his fists, subsequently squeezing Neo's hand that the pain brought her out of the trance he was in.

~ _Ow,_ ~ she said casually whilst simultaneously giving him a long hard look of "you shouldn't have done that, now I'm annoyed at you". He knew he'd messed up the second he heard her relaxed tone and contrasting, harsh look of irritation she gave him.

"I'm going to have to make it up to you, aren't I?" he asked her, almost rhetorically. She didn't actually provide him with an answer, just a simple nod of the head back towards the voice.

"Welcome to Malum, how may I help you today?"

"Oh... um... could... could we speak to... the person in charge? Please?" Fox managed, acting poorly under the sudden pressure. Neo reminded herself to politely scold him about that later.

"That would be me sir."

"Oh." The person they now knew to be the owner of the shop - a small woman with a slight tan to her skin, a soft voice and dark hair, most likely originally hailing from one of Anima's many small villages - approached them slowly yet purposefully. Fox hesitated less this time, hearing the ever so slight disappointment in his wife's inner voice after the whole stuttering and pausing fiasco ten seconds earlier. "My apologies madam."

"Do not fret, mistakes happen. Now, how may I help?"

"We were just... uh..."

~ _Do you think she's got anything pregnancy related?_ ~

~ _...that's actually a decent shout, it'll save me stuttering like a fool again._ ~

~ _Don't need stuttering to do that._ ~

~ _Ha, ha._ ~ "...looking for a couple of things. We've recently started trying for children, so we were looking for things like pregnancy tests and the like, and we were wondering if you had something like that in here."

"Yes sir, please wait one moment." The owner left to go out back, leaving husband and wife in store.

"Thanks for the save there Ni," he sighed as they went exploring around the shop, "I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes."

~ _Fall flat on your face, be sad and lonely, die; there are a number of options._ ~ Fox just stared back.

"Really? _Really?_ Of all the things, you went with _that_ as your answer. You know, I was trying to be sincere there, why did you have to flip the morbid switch?"

~ _It felt appropriate,_ ~ was her three word answer.

"Is this about your hand? 'cause if it is, I'm sorry." He found a small bottle that made him giggle at both the name and desired effects. He held it in his hand to pass on to the woman when she returned.

~ _I'm just being honest. If I didn't try and pursue you, or if one or neither of us went for that Parchment back at Beacon, you probably would have remained pining over Velvet, or on certain missions you would have died if it weren't for me. No, I'm just being truthful.~_

"You're being blunt, is what you are. Are you feeling okay?"

~ _I'm fine Fox, just... just a little warm maybe. It's nothing._ ~

"Uh huh." He didn't believe it, but he'd play along. The owner came back out with a couple of boxes of pregnancy tests in tow.

"There we are, two boxes of tests. Sometimes, people want to check a lot, so I gave you two." The older woman's eyes suddenly narrowed, almost glaring at Neo. Fair to say, the Huntress was a little weirded out, a feeling amplified when said store owner suddenly approached her and invaded her personal space.

~ _Fox, a little help please!~_

"Hey, what's going on here?" he asked, sticking his arm between his wife and this woman. "Why do you think it's a good idea to approach my partner like that?" The woman, without so much as looking at Fox, opened her palm towards him. His body suddenly glowed with an orange light - the light of his own Aura - as the woman's body shone with the glow of her own purple Aura and he was lifted off the floor. Without so much as uttering a single word, she pointed off to one side, and Fox body floated over in that direction, knocking into one stand as he moved.

Neo, not wanting to stand around and do nothing, lowered her stance and went in for an attack. The woman's hands returned to her side, going in for a similar sort of strike at Neo, but the ice cream woman had baited the woman to take that strike. She was much faster than this woman without her semblance, so with it she was untouchable. The second her hands started to move, Neo teleported behind the woman and landed a swift kick to the old woman's side. She stumbled, as any ordinary person would when kicked by a Huntress who specialised in kicks for hand to hand combat, but was up and facing the mute within seconds.

"You should not have hit me, Mrs. Alistair," she stated. The name drop stunned both people with that surname in the shop, but Neo wasn't going to let tactics like that distract her from the fact this woman had attacked her and her husband before they had finished doing business with her. Neo went in again, more of a cautious approach than usual for her, but if this person knew who she and Fox were by name then she couldn't take chances. Neo advanced again, and waited once more for the strike to commence. As she saw it, the teleported did her thing and blinked to another spot around her.

To her utter shock, this woman had predicted the movement, as she only teleported to the left side of the woman as she was performing a left handed palm strike to where Neo was standing, and thrust her palm into the centre of Neo's chest. She silently gasped as this woman's purple Aura and her own multi-coloured on both lit the area up. The palm lowered centring more on the mute's actual tummy area. Neo said nothing, she _did_ nothing, because this woman was not hurting her and so did not pose a threat. That, and she somehow managed to freeze her in place so that she couldn't escape in any way, be it teleporting or simple moving.

"I have a semblance too; I can manipulate people's Auras if I want to, but mostly I just read them through physical contact. I can understand basic things like names with even the slightest touch, more as the contact time increases." She focused back on Neo, reading her Aura for a few more seconds before letting her go and removing her hand, panting afterwards. It turns out, using that sort of semblance is incredibly taxing.

"So," Fox said as he made his way around the toppled stand and knocked over glass vials to get back to the woman and Neo, "care to clear up what you just did to my wife?"

"I have done nothing to her, I simply read her body and Aura. It intrigued me, for it appeared abnormal in my mind's eye." She looked back at Neo, then to Fox with the following part of the apology. "I am sorry for shocking you, and to you for throwing you across my store. I wanted to check her completely and the less interruptions I get while doing so, the better."

"Right. And so, are we still expected to pay full price for these, considering you threw me through your shop?"

"Yes." That wasn't exactly the answer Fox, or Neo for that matter, wanted, and their faces reflected that immediately. "But I will give you a small amount of what you desired in that bottle as compensation, Mr. Alistair."

"Yeah, thanks." The woman left again to fill up that bottle. The couple remained there in silence, picking up the stand and trying to rearrange the small bottles on its shelf. The woman returned to see everything back the way it was before, with a couple of small mistakes here and there. Fox paid for it and went to leave with Neo to do some actual shopping.

"Mrs. Alistair?" The mute pivoted to look back, as did the scarred man. The woman's body glowed again, the same purple light as before, clearly using her semblance. "You and this Kingdom are very much alike. You once had life and the ability to make more, but now you are the barren wasteland with no hope of escaping what you are. But there is always a shiny ray of hope in even the most barren of places." The words spoken weren't exactly the friendliest things to hear when departing a store, so they simply said thanks and took their leave.


	12. Poor Customer Service

~ _That bitch called me a desert,_ ~ she aggressively mused after they'd cleared a block or two. ~ _Why the hell would you say_ _ **that**_ _to a customer? It's like she doesn't want us coming back, or anyone coming back for that matter.~_

"What do you think she meant by that?" Neo glanced over at her husband, clearly still in thought over the woman's musings.

~ _Why does it matter? She's gone from our lives, we move on.~_

"'A barren wasteland with no hope of escape'; just sounds so ominous..." he muttered, still not sure what to make of the warning, if it was indeed one.

The couple spent the rest of the morning searching around other stores, buying a few things here and there, and saving the locations of a couple of other really good stores for that evening. But as the sun approached its peak, the couple could see a few people already scuttering inside to escape the blistering heat of the day, and they opted to do the same. They made their way to the mall they passed on landing, checking again at the landing pads when the last flight out was, before making their way inside.

Vacuo had their oases, such as the city they were in, but even _they_ had their own little gems, and the couple agreed that this was most likely a strong contender of being Lac Filio's. The mall was enormous; even from the entrance they could hardly see halfway down the perfectly straight pathway to the centre feature of the place. Each of the five floors of the place had to offer were teaming with life, from casual shoppers to those on their midday lunch breaks, families and individuals alike, and with so much variety on every floor. It was a wonderland of shopping.

~ _Holy shit,_ ~ the illusionist commented, her eyes flickering through all the possible combinations of their three main colours at every opportunity they could as she stared at the place, ~ _Holy. Shit!~_

"It's rare to see you lost for words," Fox commented, "but I'm with you. This place is huge!" They moved in towards a giant screen near the entrance, looking almost like a public transport timetable, only with store names instead of destinations. "Why would you even need to go anywhere else? This looks like it's got everything in here." They searched on the board, finding various different places they wanted to go and taking note of their position in this mammoth of a building, before finally searching for a place to eat so that they could do their afternoon shopping spree on full stomachs. Fox managed to note down an elevator that lead to the roof as well, as he wanted to see what was up there to understand why they didn't see this thing flying in.

The small restaurant they found was situated near the middle on the third floor, a perfect place for them to plan their route around the mall as it was right near the middle of the place. Even though they ate, Fox opting for a bacon omelette and Neo a fishcake dish, each with salad sides, and were on their anniversary holiday away, the Huntsman and Huntress couldn't exactly be turned off in them. They were still planning this like it was a mission, prioritising and going for optimum routes, even the odd contingency plan should a couple of the shops not cater to what they wanted. Neo realised this and called them up on it, to which they both just laughed.

"Huntsmen 'til the end, eh?"

~ _Yeah, it seems that way.~_

After eating, and even after criticising themselves for making a plan for their route, they did follow through with it anyway, but taking their time a bit more than they had planned to. Fox reminded Neo that, if they still wanted to come back here and finish off shopping, they had the morning they were flying back to Vale to do so. They stopped in clothes stores, in gift shops, antique stores and couple of mother and daughter stores. They had to explain to a couple of the store clerks that whilst they were trying themselves for children, this was actually for their friends back home who already had a child. Plus, they didn't think they could carry this much or something that big on the ship back when they had looked at things like buggies, even with their added weight allowance for weapons and the like. Eventually, they neared the end of their trip, having covered most of the shops they'd wanted to in little under three and a half hours, with a couple of bags in tow. Fox lead Neo to the last elevator, saying that this one would get them down to the ground floor quickest. In actuality, it was the one that went up to the roof.

The doors opened up, and Neo's eyes widened and swapped to dual pink. The roof of the shopping mall had been converted into a natural coastal area of sorts, with palm trees decorating the area to add shade but also green to the area and a main pool of crystal blue water. The rest of the area had more fake grass around to give the area some more greenery, only this time it was much less lawn length and looked slightly more like a natural meadow of sorts, with longer grass you'd have to wade through if it wasn't for the paths, wild flowers originally from Vacuo and some non-native species as well, although those were sparse to prevent them from becoming an invasive species. Nearer the pool of water it became less grassland and more beach, with pebbles and sand, the latter most likely from the rest of the desert surrounding them but it seemed so much... softer, even from a glance.

~ _Talk about having a stylish roof. This is amazing. I don't think even_ _ **Atlas**_ _has things like this.~_

"The temperature's too cold up there for something like this, even in Southern Atlas. I reckon Vacuo can get away with it because of the temperature and their desire to not be living in a desert." Neo acknowledged that he was probably right on that one. They wondered around the area for a bit and were blown away by the sheer size of it, considering the area was covering most, if not all, of the roof of the giant mall. There were a couple of vendors on the rooftop as well, one for ice cream - which naturally they _had_ to go to - and one for coconut water.

"I... can't say _I've_ ever had coconut water. Neo?" A shake of the head was his answer, as she needed to convey the message to the vendor as well.

"It's not much different to regular water, but it's good for the body. And with _these_ coconuts," he indicated to his stash, stored behind him in what appeared to be barrels of a strange glowing substance, "you'll feel so much more energised that you ever thought you could be."

"Really?"

~ _Fox, you don't believe that, do you?_ ~

"Yes, my friend. Want to try some?" Fox wanted to say yes, but Neo was beside him eying the barrel suspiciously. He decided he'd trust his wife on this one.

"Yes." Wait... ~ _Shit!~_

"Thank you very much sir, 15 Lien." He reluctantly handed the Lien over and the vendor readied his knife to cut open the fruit, but Fox stopped him, on Neo's request.

"Wait, can I just take the coconut now? I have my own blade to open it with."

"No sir, I must open it now. It'll only take a moment." With that, he swung, not waiting for another counter argument. The mute grumbled to herself as the drink was prepared, and to both of their eyes nothing was wrong or weird about the whole process, it was just a man making a living selling coconuts... that had been sitting in a glowing substance.

"What's in the barrel?" Fox asked.

"Can't say sir. Trade secret."

"Is it Dust? Because that looks like liquidised Dust. Which one? Is it Ice Dust?"

"Trade secret sir. Although I will say that it isn't Dust of any kind." With the coconut opened and the straw and little umbrella added, Fox was handed his drink.

"Why's it cold? I thought you said that wasn't Dust."

"It isn't sir; there are Dust coolants _underneath_ the barrel that keep the liquid in there cool, but nothing is _in_ the barrel itself. Enjoy your drink, _sir_." With that harsh final comment, the man turned and went back to work on the rest of his wears, leaving the Huntsmen feeling a little sour at the send-off, if you could call it such.

~ _Well, remind me never to come here again.~_

~ _Don't come here again.~_

~ _I didn't mean remind me now Neo, I meant in the future.~_

She shrugged. ~ _You weren't specific enough._ ~ He rolled his eyes, then took a sip of the drink he'd gotten. To her surprise, his face lit up a little. ~ _Is it good?~_

~ _Yeah it is. Want to try-~_

~ _No._ ~ She cut him off before he got a chance to finish his question. ~ _Fox, I'm not going to dissuade you from drinking the rest of this, seeing as you paid for it and only took one sip, but if that thing_ _ **is**_ _bad I would rather one of us be safe to make sure it's nothing fatal.~_

"Always thinking of the bigger picture," he admitted, seeing his own flaw in that respect. He took another sip before looking down at the bags around him. "Uh..."

~ _You want I should take a couple of bags?~  
_

"Yes please," he said after a second or two of trying to assess whether he could take the bags on his own - he concluded that he couldn't.

~ _Sure. But first._ ~ Without much warning, she spun around and pulled her Scroll out from seemingly nowhere, although Fox wouldn't have put it past her to have had it in her hand this whole time and that she'd just created an illusion to make it seem like she wasn't, and snapped a quick photo of the pair of them. She was smiling, framed perfectly in the bottom left of the shot, whereas he just looked shocked with a small bit of coconut water splashing out of its natural cup as he tried to position it a little more naturally before the shutter closed. ~ _There, all good.~_

"I probably look ridiculous in that photo," he commented.

~ _Probably, yeah. But not all of our holiday photos can be perfect, scripted shots of us. Sometimes, it pays to have a little spontaneity._ ~ He raised his coconut to that, as if it were a toast.

* * *

"I'm starting to get the impression that the coconut man lied." The couple had returned to their room at the end of the day, having finished up at the mall and made their way back to the hotel, grabbing some dinner in the restaurant once they had dumped their gifts back in the room. Right now, having been fed up nicely and put everything away, they were both lying on their bed in their room. Fox was simply staring at the ceiling waiting for something to happen still in his clothes for the day, whilst Neo was on her Scroll searching something in her sleepwear, the coconut on the nearby table for her to look at and work with if she needed to. Though to be honest, with her illusions and even after five years of being together, he couldn't always tell if she was actually wearing clothes or had just created an illusion to give off the impression she had. It made for entertaining walks through Vale on occasion.

~ _What gave you that impression,_ ~ she asked sarcastically, not taking her eyes off the screen, ~ _the shadiness of how he sold you the drink? The way he kept it fresh? The absurd claim? It's one of those._ ~

"Well, more the fact that I feel no different at all. Sure, those things he said did raise flags, but in the end, I wanted to try some coconut water."

Neo's Scroll flashed, the results coming in from her little test she'd sent off. Weiss had asked for CFVYN's help with something about five months ago, and in return she would see what she could do with the limited access to the Schnee Dust Company Reserves she had. Neo was cashing in on that favour. ' _You might want to lay off it from now on._ ' The tan skinned man sat up, looking at the screen in front of his partner. ~ _Weiss sent me the results back already - these SDC guys are good._ ~

"Well, they've probably had Weiss' permission to borrow your Time Dust shard tricks to improve their time efficiency, and she does have 'Schnee' as a surname, so they'd do a lot for their bosses."

~ _Not for much longer,_ ~ the tri coloured woman reminded, ~ _their wedding's at the end of the year.~_

"Oh yeah. We are going, right?"

~ _Stupid question, of course we are. Anyway, turns out that there really is no effects on the coconut water when either submerged in or cooled by Ice Dust. But one thing that was noticed was the drinks effects on cells short term, potentially long term according to the readings and data._ ~ Neo opened one of the side documents labelled "Effects". ~ _It says here that in short term, frozen on heavily chilled coconut water can temporarily damage the sex cells of either males or females, though slightly more potent on women-_ ~

"Good thing you didn't have any then; wouldn't want our efforts over the past couple of days to be wasted."

~ _-but long term it can affect the health of the same sex cells, the long term negative effects being greater on_ _ **male**_ _cells than female ones.~_

"Oh... not touching that stuff again!"

~ _That's only short term stuff after lots and lots of ice cold coconut water; one isn't going to hurt you.~_

"Yeah," he reached across to cup her cheek in his hand, "but if it's going to destroy our chances of having children, then I'm not touching it again." Neo smiled, leaning in and pressing her lips on his own.

~ _Shall we call it a night? We've still got a couple of things we can do tomorrow, and then the flight home's in two days' time.~_

"I thought tonight was going to be 'nightlife night'."

~ _That's tomorrow, numb nuts._ ~ She accentuated her statement by lightly bonking his head with her Scroll. ~ _You definitely need some sleep._ ~ She gazed towards their window as he nodded in agreement, spying the lights of the night shining from between the gap in the curtains. ~ _But what's the harm in having a look out this evening?_ ~ She shuffled herself out of bed, walking over to the window and throwing the curtains open revealing the shine of Lac Filio's night.

From the window, the darkness of the cloudless night was completely cancelled out by the bright, luminous glows of the buildings below. Signs lit up streets, advertising something new on each and every one they could see, the streets all washed in an icy blue light from the lamps - they were implemented to lessen the violent tendencies of the populous by having a calming blue light over them as opposed to a harsh, angrier golden coloured light - and the buildings all glowed with their own signature colours.

"It's beautiful," he commented, staring out at the city. Their room wasn't too high up so they couldn't see as much as they would a floor or two higher, but the sight was still spectacular nonetheless.

~ _Thank you, I try to please you. But what about the view?~_

"Isn't that normally my line?" the man chuckled, averting his eyes away from the window and towards his wife.

Another shrug, along with a smirk. ~ _Go get changed for bed.~_

"Yes, Mom." Neo smacked his arm semi-playfully, making it clear to him that she wasn't joking; he obliged to her request. "So, are we going to sleep in tomorrow?" he asked as he changed, his back to her out of respect for privacy despite them being _very_ familiar with each other's naked bodies by this point. "I know that if we want to go out tomorrow evening, it may be an idea to sleep in so that we've got some... time to... prepare..." He had to admit, he wasn't expecting that.

Having changed into sleepwear, Fox spun back to the bed to get in and sleep, only to be greeted with his wife laying very seductively on the bed.

~ _What's wrong sweetie?_ ~

"Oh nothing, it's just there appears to be an incredibly sexy lady posing on the bed in our room."

~ _Really?! What's she wearing?_ ~ Fox got closer to the bed, lowering his voice so that it became husky, almost lust fuelled.

"Hopefully nothing, if she'll let me."

~ _Is she hot?~_

"Yeah she is."

~ _Describe her for me, I might take an interest in her._ ~ Neo closed her eyes, adding to the idea of this mystery woman actually being in the room. Fox played along.

"Well, she's got a great ass-"

~ _Mm hm.~_

"-fantastic hips-"

~ _Ooh, I like her.~_

"- a smile to die for-"

~ _Sweet as well? She sounds so much fun._ ~

"- and she appears to have lost her sense of spacing."

~ _What's that got to do with-_ ~ When her eyes opened, she was greeted with the sight of Fox standing right in front of her, their noses practically touching. As any person naturally would in this situation, even a hardened Huntress like Neo, she recoiled a bit at the sudden closeness.

"Gotcha," he smirked.

~ _Oh shut up,_ ~ she grinned, finally foregoing the stupid back and forth they had going and ended up just pulling him down.


	13. Favours from a Schnee

Fox knew this anyway, as did Neo, but sex _really_ takes a lot out of you. Sure, the feelings you get during and after are unmatched by any positive emotion they've ever felt, but that doesn't mean the exhaustion doesn't factor in. So when the pair eventually stirred from their slumber, they woke to strong and vibrant yellow light streaming through their curtain as opposed to the softer orange they had woken to yesterday in the pre-dawn.

~ _Do I even want to know?~_ were the first words Fox heard that morning, although neither moved.

"I'm not sure. I know I don't. But..." He reached for his Scroll to check the time. A mistake had been made. "Oh, fuck me."

~ _Pass; I'm all fucked out._ ~ He showed Neo the Scroll so that she could see the time. A second mistake. ~ _Fuck off. That's... urgh.~_

**13:16**

"How does that even happen? We've never-" he tried to sit up, but everything hurt. Still he persisted, eventually coming to an upright position. "-oh, crap that hurts. Ow. We've never slept in like that before. Like, _ever_."

~ _That's so weird._ ~ She too sat up, and although she did so with much fewer problems than her husband, it was not painless. ~ _Never, in all the years I've done that, have I ever felt so... I dunno, slow and drained are probably the bests word for it. And it has never hurt this bad either.~_

"Agreed." Fox tried stretching his neck out, leading to a loud crack coming from it. "Argh!"

~ _Jeez, you okay hun?~_

"No..." he whined. A quick look over towards his wife, originally to see the sympathetic look he expected her to be wearing, only to be more interested by her Scroll flashing. "Neo sweetie, were you expecting a message today?"

~ _I wasn't, why do you-_ ~ she saw the flashing light in the corner of her Scroll and reached over to grab it. ~ _Fox, it's from Weiss again.~_

"Why'd she need to contact you again?"

~ _Beats me.~_

"I hope that she doesn't, otherwise I will need to be having words with Ms. Schnee."

~ _Oum, that makes her sound like my mistress, and therefore someone who **would** beat me._~ The copper haired Huntsman was going to comment, but he realised how true her statement was, so he opted against saying anything. ~ _Dust damnit...~_

"What's she said?"

**_5 Unread Messages_ **

**Weiss:  
_Neo, it's Weiss again. The scientists at the SDC Labs ran a few more tests regarding the coconut water and Dust after I'd left and found something else out._**

_**Due to one of the many convoluted ways of producing Time Dust being to work heavily on modifying Ice Dust, a process I cannot divulge due to SDC regulations and the fact I would rather get some sleep tonight, they discovered that the natural compounds of the water mixed directly with the Dust created small Time Dust particulates that could potentially slow down your nervous system for a few hours.** _

_**I assume due to lack of communication that what I said is probably the case, so I'm going to be going to bed. Please keep me posted on what happened.** _

_**Ruby says hi.** _

_**Neo, it's morning here and I've heard nothing from you. Has something happened?** _

"You might want to reply to that, we don't want SDC personnel raiding our room to make sure we're safe."

~ _True._ ~

**Neo:  
_Hey Weiss x_**

_**So, you were right. It definitely feels like Time Shards. We slept for well over 15 hours and are both in pain. Fox more than me** _

**Weiss:  
_Well, it's nice to know that you're not dead._**

_**Wait, why are you hurting? Wasn't Fox the only one of you that had some of that coconut water?** _

**Neo:  
_He was_**

_**I was drinking a different kind of nut last night ;)** _

"Oh, she is going to hate that," came Fox's worried response at seeing his wife's comment to the Schnee.

~ _It's fine, she's grown up a bit since Beacon, I'm sure she can handle a little innuendo here and there._ ~ The pair were surprised when Neo's Scroll started ringing, and seeing that it was from Weiss. Confused but not willing to pass up the opportunity to communicate with her again after not seeing her for a while, Neo held the Scroll at arm's length so that she and Fox could be seen, then she opened the video call.

"Hey Weiss, how are-"

* _YOU SENT THAT TO MY WORK SCROLL!_ * she howled at them causing the mute to nearly drop the device from pure shock.

* _Weiss, not so loud,_ * came Ruby's voice from beside her, * _you said you weren't going to be harsh on them._ *

* _I know what I said Ruby, this_ _ **is**_ _me being lenient._ *

"Hey... Weiss," Fox tried again.

* _What were you thinking? Sending that sort of comment to my SDC Scroll can get me fired!_ * The alabaster haired woman sighed, rubbing her temple and clearly taking her fiancé's words to mind, calming down to talk with a clearer head to them. * _But, I trust that you are feeling better now?_ *

"Slightly. Moving still hurts me a fair bit, but Neo's a little more mobile than I am." On that comment, the Schnee very visibly started blushing.

* _I still can't believe you did that Neo. I do not want to be versed on the ins and outs of your private bedroom matters._ *

{" _The 'ins and outs' eh?_ "} Neo signed with a smirk. Weiss groaned aggressively at yet another innuendo laced comment from the mute, handing over the Scroll to her partner beside her with a command of "Take it before I destroy it. I'm getting coffee."

* _Hey guys._ *

"Hiya Ruby. How are things going?"

* _Eh, can't complain much. It feels weird though, not having any assignments to do or missions. If we wanted, we could stop right now and that's crazy. We won't obviously, because Weiss is... well..._ *

"Weiss?"

* _Yeah... How's your holiday going?_ *

"It's actually really nice here. We were lucky Velvet found us a place in one of the oases; Vacuo would probably have been bottom of the list of Kingdoms we'd have visited for any sort of vacation. But, we wanted a change of pace too."

* _Nice. What have you been doing?_ *

~ _Each other.~_

~ _Neo, we are not saying that to Ruby.~_

~ _Why not? She can handle a joke better than Weiss can.~_

~ _She's also ten years younger than you.~_

~ _You had to reopen that can of worms...~_

* _You were going to pull the "each other" card, weren't you?_ * The older couple looked startled at the scythe wielder's (scarily accurate) comment.

"...How?"

* _I grew up with Yang and remained on a team with her throughout Beacon; whenever she and Blake were together when me and Weiss went out for the night, "each other" was normally the first thing that came to Yang's mouth. Sometimes even Blake's._ *

{" _That's what happens with Mate's; they'll take on one another's traits as time progresses. Velvet and Coco are the same._ "}

* _Yeah. So, why? Is it just because you can with no restrictions, or what?_ *

{" _Ooh, someone's interesting in our private lives._ "}

* _I'm just curious._ * There wasn't a sliver of embarrassment in that sentence, and Fox felt ever so slightly put off by that fact.

"Well, the long and the short is we were fussing too much over Velvet and Coco and their daughter for them, so they basically made us go on holiday as a belated anniversary gift and said 'Make your own kids to fuss over'. So, we are."

* _Aww, that's so cute._ * A thought suddenly came to Ruby's mind and she turned away from the Scroll. * _Weiss!_ * she called, * _we need to go and see Coco and Velvet's baby!_ * Clearly Weiss was responding, but she was too far away from the device for either Fox or Neo to hear. * _Of course we can Weiss, you're not working tomorrow either._ * ... * _Yay! You're the best!_ * ... * _I'm_ _ **your**_ _dolt~_ * She turned her attention back to the couple on the other end. * _Sorry. But yeah, that's cool. So, you still trying for one, or are you just going to enjoy your holiday now?_ *

"We'll still enjoy the holiday, but that won't stop us enjoying each other's intimate company once or twice more."

* _Are you still on that topic?_ * came Weiss' voice, bringing two cups with her; one, a blasphemous concoction of sugar, cream and a little coffee, the other a much milder and sugar free coffee, * _because I will leave again if you are._ *

* _Nah, they're done. They were just telling me that they were going for kids._ *

* _Gross and unnecessary information, but I wish you luck nonetheless._ *

"Thanks Weiss. Anyway, going back to the main reason we were talking, my muscles ache something fierce."

* _I imagine they would. Neo, you know first hand what Time Shard can do on a body when you were working on your outfits and such, so you know the feeling. This, rather than being external, is something internal, and as such it's affecting the muscles and nerves directly as opposed to indirectly. Everything is slowed down inside of you, so everything aches. Even though you yourselves have gone back to full speed it seems, your insides haven't. It make take another hour or so for the pain to subside to comfortable levels, but I surmise it won't truly go until later tomorrow, even the day after._ *

"So, this all happened because of the vendor cooling down the coconuts with Ice Dust?"

* _Not being able to see what was actually inside that barrel of his, it seems that way, yes. The compounds in the coconut, both the water and the shell, broke down the Dust far more efficiently than I've ever seen before, so that may explain why it took us a little longer to work out why it would have done what it did, and why it affected you so rapidly. Sorry._ *

"No that's fine. Thanks for all the help Weiss."

* _It's fine. Now, please do not send any more messages of the sort from before to me, those messages are tracked periodically and I need to spend some time finding ways to erase it from the system before someone finds out._ *

{" _Weiss Schnee, Hacker Extraordinaire. How will you stop your Dad from finding out?_ "}

* _Brilliant as he claims to be, he seldom looks much at the low workers of his company - it's how I managed to secure a place here without him knowing for three months. By that point he didn't care, so long as I wasn't trying to usurp him anymore. I've been slowly rising up the ranks with my eyes on the chair of the company, but through honest work as opposed to it being a birth right. But, being so low down yet still having some influence in the workplace, I can get those who monitor the company Scrolls to miss a few things on mine._ *

* _And you claim_ _ **me**_ _using_ _ **my**_ _powers are unethical..._ * Ruby moaned from just off screen.

* _Of course they are; those puppy dog eyes are downright criminal and should never be used on man, woman or child again._ * That prompted a slight whimpering from one side that made Weiss' ice blue eyes widen. * _I've made a mistake..._ * She turned to stare directly at Ruby, who was currently sitting knees up on their settee and her eyes pulling the most outrageously cute face they could manage. * _Ruby Rose, you stop that this instant._ * The look continued. * _I'm warning you..._ * There was a small break in her composure and both Neo and Fox heard it. * _Ruby..._ * Weiss stared unblinking, even trying to avert her gaze, but even though her head moved her eyes did not. * _Argh!_ * She reached over and grabbed Ruby, pulling her into a hug. * _I_ _ **hate**_ _it when you do that to me._ *

Ruby's face was front and centre on the Scroll now, the crimsonette having caught it before it hit the floor. Fox and Neo felt the same as Weiss clearly did, as her large silver orbs shone with a mysterious, almost ethereal sparkle. While Weiss continued to snuggle, Ruby broke the puppy dog face and winked at the screen.

{" _You little minx, Rose._ "} Ruby just smiled cheekily at Neo.

* _I may be like this for a while, so we'll talk to you guys later, 'kay? Might even see if we can pop in to see the baby._ *

"Sounds like a plan. We'll probably be home early evening tomorrow."

* _Sweet! Catch you later._ *

Their video called ended.

"See, I told you Weiss would hate the comment."

~ ** _That's_** _what you're taking from this? We've been hit with what is essentially a drug that slows our bodies down from the inside and you're going with "Weiss hated the comment"? Honestly._ ~

"Truth is hun, I'm scared." The honest statement from her husband took Neo by surprise, a sentiment reflected in her shifting eye colour.

~ _Scared? What is there to-?~_

"I'm scared for our child, Neo." Even after the quiet that came from losing both Ruby and Weiss in conversation, the silence between them now was palpable. "Like you said, we'd been drugged. What could that do to us?"

~ _I… I don't know. I don't know that Weiss knows either. Really, all I can suggest is that we keep doing what we've been doing whilst we have the luxury and solitude to do so, then go back to normal when we leave here and back home. After that, we go and see a doctor two or three months down the line, we can see what they have to say, and then we take it from there.~_

"That works, I guess." He didn't sound sure of himself understandably, so Neo opted to forgo words and hug her husband around his middle, laying her head across his lap once she was done. Those actions was all he needed to know that she trusted him in whatever decision he made, and that hopefully he could trust her judgement on this too. The copper brown eyed man smiled, running his fingers through his wife's pink and brown locks as he glanced down at her face, smiling back at him the moment their eyes made contact.

They understood one another, both in terms of what they wanted to do and what the other wanted _them_ to do, through that simple action: fight on for their future child. Give them a chance to live.

* * *

Much to their disappointment, after the Dust Infused Coconut Motor-control Violating Effect (something Neo and Fox decided they are calling what happened to them purely because it was the only thing that made sense describing what it was _and_ where the words can be abbreviated to DICMOVE, because they are both normal, functioning adults) had taken hold inside them, their bodies really weren't ready to try and behave normally. This effect stayed with them right the way through to late evening, by which point neither person was in any state to try and get up to see the nightlife of Lac Filio as they had promised they'd do before. So sadly, they decided to remain in their room, packing where they could, ordering a small bit of room service as their only source of food that entire day once the sun had gone down, even taking advantage of the self-imposed / pain-imposed room arrest by trying to have sex to pass the time, seeing as they found nothing to watch on their Scrolls.

They only tried once, as the pain caused whenever they tried anything normal (for them) cause Neo some discomfort, but caused Fox enough pain for it to no longer be fun. Even Fox laying down and doing absolutely nothing, letting Neo literally do all the work, still brought about pain. So, they decided against that pastime, and instead focussed their efforts on learning how to properly care for their child, rather than trying to make one, and falling asleep early as a result of such a non-strenuous activity.

The perk to that, whilst not being as fun short-term, meant that the couple were up by about 5:00am the next morning. That gave them plenty of time to finish packing and prepare themselves for the journey home.

~ _Everything set?_ ~ Neo asked as they looked around their room one last time.

"Seems that way. Main thing: do we have our gifts for everyone?"

Neo showed him the small bags they had set aside for everyone, then slotted them in near the top of their luggage, just below their fleece and hoodie. ~ _Not being rude or anything, but wouldn't our own stuff be the main thing?_ ~

"What? Well, yeah; that goes without question." She sighed silently, shaking her head with a smile as she took the first suitcase and started wheeling it out as Fox took the second.

"Mr Ulata?" Fox called as they entered the main reception. The Faunus greeted them again.

"Ah, good to see you two again. I take it this is your farewell?"

"Indeed it is," he answered, handing back the key cards, "we need to head back home and get on with our lives and jobs as Huntsmen, but we have loved it here." Neo nodded in agreement.

"It's wonderful for you two to say so. Please, do consider coming again; as far as outsider customers, you two are some of the nicest we've had, and I don't say that a lot."

"It's nice of you to say so sir." The couple waved as they left the hotel for the last time, the 9:00am sun warming but not overpoweringly so. "Do you want to go and do something before we head home? Or just beeline to the ship home and see if we can get the earlier flight? I'm open for suggestions."

~ _I say, seeing as we already got everything for everyone a couple of days ago, we just head straight home. I'm sure they miss us greatly, and it means that we might get to see Ruby and Weiss - they did say that they'd try to pop in to see the baby today.~_

"Fair point; homeward bound it is."

Taking in the last of the sights as they made their way to the Bullhead, Neo couldn't help but snap a few final photos to show the rest of their team having returned home in a few hours.

~ _I've enjoyed it here,_ ~ Fox said, looking back on Occulta as they flew closer to the main airport, favouring his mental voice to save his actual one for when they weren't battling for noise dominance against Bullhead engines, ~ _sure, the weather's been… extreme, and the whole coconut incident-_ ~

~ _Which we agreed we'd only bring up again once we saw Weiss, providing it wasn't her wedding day.~_

~ _I know, sorry. But regardless of all of that, I thoroughly enjoyed it here.~_

Neo's eyebrow rose, and a half smile grew on her face. ~ _Now I wonder, is that because you spent all this time away from responsibilities and worries with your darling, beautiful wife, or was it just because you got to make love to her whenever you wanted because there was no one else in the room to disturb you like there would be at home?~_

~ _Oh, the first answer. Definitely the first answer. There's no way it could be **anything** except the first answer._~ She knew he was pulling her leg, and he knew that she knew, but he wanted to see how long she'd run with it before calling him out.

~ _We both know you're lying, just tell me the truth._ ~ Wow, not at all it seems.

~ _Yeah, option two. But I'm not knocking the fact we got to take this break. We needed it to clear our minds and get us to focus again - we'd been lacking that recently._ ~ She nodded, accepting that what they were doing before this was unhealthy for not only themselves but for Yatsuhashi, for Velvet, and especially for Coco and Clementine. Time away really gave them the space they needed to reflect and come back to their everyday lives refreshed, but also refocused.

With a fair amount of luck (and the tiniest amount of using their Huntsmen status as leverage) they managed to squeeze onto the earlier of the two ships heading to Vale that day.

**Neo:  
_I hope you're not doing anything, in which case I'm sorry in advance._**

_**We're heading back now, about 10 mins before take off.** _

_**See you at the airport x** _

Neo hoped that one of the intended recipients got that before they were in the air and a response was infinitely more difficult to get. Luckily, as she was being seated, one came through.

**Velvet:  
_Lucky for you, I wasn't on night duty last night. ;) I'll be there as soon as I can, look for the big car out front._**

_**Or the ears, depending on when I get there in relation to you.** _

**Neo:  
_See you soon x_**

~ _We've got our ride home sorted._ ~

"Great! Do you think there are bedrooms on here as well?"

~ _Fox, it's a Cross-Kingdom flight, of course there'll be beds.~_

"Perfect," he smiled as he sat back on his chair. He wasn't done speaking though, as without taking his sights off the front, he added, ~ _because I'm feeling at a loss because of last night, and seeing as this may be the last chance we have any time to do this at our leisure, I'd like to make up for lost time.~_

~ _Ah, I follow._ ~ The captain spoke over the tannoy system, as they always did, and Neo listened momentarily. She didn't want to jump at the offer straight away, even though she _really_ wanted to, so she waited for the mandatory safety exit part of the briefing before she spoke again. ~ _I'm so going to make up for the lost time in the hotel._ ~ Fox grinned slyly; he was in for a ride.


	14. You meet some Real Creeps when You're at the Airport

Velvet pulled up as close to the terminal as she could. Given the fact that it was mid-afternoon on a Thursday, it was fairly packed and finding space to park was a little bit trickier than it was dropping them off, mostly due the fact that she knew where they were when she dropped them off. Now, she was just waiting for them to make it through everything, grab their stuff and find her in the vast sea of parking spaces for collections.

**Velvet:  
_I'm outside now, parked in Section D. I'll be heading inside to meet you there_**

**Neo:  
_We'll see you soon then x_**

"So they've landed, that's a good sign," she said to herself as she locked the car and made her way through towards the arrivals gate. The walk to the main terminal alone was five minutes from where she was, and judging from the prompt message from the tricoloured woman she was picking up, that would be enough to meet them, turn around and head home.

As a Huntress, Velvet trained for years to know that you should always be prepared when it came to battle. Having information on your intended target was crucial so then you knew what you were dealing with on many different levels: motive, means of attack; the like. Backup was often appreciated, but you weren't always fortunate to face things with someone else. Knowing your own limits, both physical and mental, was paramount to leaving any battle victorious.

Sadly, as the Rabbit was making her way across the car park, three other Faunus made their way towards her. Her ears twitched as they stepped closer to her, her walking rhythm not swaying at all as she listened to theirs, but her nerves were getting the better of her as her ears started falling flatter on her head.

 _They can see that, they know I'm afraid._ She did her best to keep herself calm, and also to project her worries through her Mark; hopefully Coco could feel the anxiousness and get Fox and Neo there quicker.

"Excuse me," came the eerie voice of one of the three. He was a tall man with brown hair, a small goatee and, most noticeably, two giant Bat wings coming off his back. "I couldn't help but notice you looked a little lost. Perhaps we can help you with that." He gestured out to his two fellow Faunus, one man with dark skin and a pair of small tusks either side of his mouth, clearly a Boar Faunus, the other was a woman with pale grey skin and very prominent veins on her neck.

"I know exactly where I'm going, thank you. Now please, move."

"Oh no, that won't do. You see, we think you are _lost_. A Faunus like you, here alone to no doubt to pick up some human scum from their flight and drive them wherever they want. _We_ want to help you with that, by killing the ones who dare treat our kind with anything subservient."

"You don't understand," Velvet defended, noticing the pincer manoeuvre these three were trying to pull on her. She slipped her Scroll out of the back pocket she kept it in and managed to pull up and activate the 'Distress Beacon' on there. Sadly, with a pincer manoeuvre, one person goes round on each side of the intended target, so the woman noticed the Scroll trick and fired a line of silk webbing out, binding the Rabbit's hand to the device, and both of those to her back.

_Spider Faunus?! Great, now more reasons to hate those things._

"Excellent work, Trifa," the Bat man commented, approaching Velvet far more directly as she had no means of escaping them or calling for help on her Scroll. Unfortunately for them, the 'Distress Beacon' is active as long as it is until someone physically turns it off, so they unintentionally stuck a homing device to their target's back.

"Thanks Yuma, she was going to call for help."

*tsk, tsk* "Naughty, naughty, little rabbit." The way the Bat Faunus said those words would alone have made the mage shudder hearing them said to anyone, but the added fact they were directed straight at her sent a cold chill up her spine. "Perhaps we should take you somewhere else, and teach you a lesson properly."

She narrowed her eyes and glared at the Bat Faunus, who responded with a smirk. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

He chuckled, although with his raspy voice it sounded much more like a growl, at the prospect, leaning right in to the mage's personal space, causing her to lean back and plant her foot behind her to stay out of his way.

"And what makes you so sure?"

"This." Without any further warning, Velvet used the fact she was leaning back to thrust her head forward at speed, her head impacting perfectly with the man's nose. He cried in pain and clamped his hand over it to stop the inevitable bleeding, giving her time to bring her rear leg forward and kick him square in the chest and knocking him over. Her head hurt because of the headbutt, but at least he wasn't going to be much of a problem for a little while now.

"You're going to regret that!" the boar growled as he lowered himself to charge. Velvet was prepared for it, but forgot that her third assailant was a Spider momentarily, only remembering once the webs wrapped around her entire upper body and rendering her arms useless in the upcoming fight.

"Trying something, were you? Not likely," Trifa grinned.

 _Great, no arms, just what I needed. My options just slimmed tremendously; "Avoid", "Run" or "Kick them", and they're not going to just let me leave._ Sure enough, the Boar started on the offensive, charging straight for her. Being a Rabbit meant she had powerful enough leg muscles to push herself off the ground and jump over her own head height without even using any Aura, so the charge was easily countered by her simply leaping over the man. But, not wanting him to leave unscathed, she shifted her weight and kicked back, both of her heels crashing into the back of his head and he tumbled to the floor in pain, the combination of a hard knock from both her and the floor knocking him out cold.

Sadly, in doing that, she fell to the ground herself, grunting in pain upon impact. Doing her best to shift her weight to stand, that became an impossibility when Trifa again webbed her up, this time sticking the Rabbit to the floor so that she was completely immobile.

"Now I've got you right where I want you," Trifa grinned, removing the Spider's silk from her hand.

"Excellent work, Trifa," Yuma complemented as he stood, his face red with his own blood. "Now, what to do with you?" The Bat leaned down right by Velvet's face, doing her best to back away from it but only getting so far with her body stuck to the ground. "It seems you don't want to join us, so we may just have to dispose of you; they've clearly corrupted you." Her eyes widened in fear when she heard that.

"No, please! I have a daughter, please, just let me go!" She know she wanted to be strong and face off against these two properly, but the threat against her life, especially when she had no one around her to but her time or even save her, caused her voice to waver and her resolve to shatter.

"Pleading? What a tell-tale sign of weakness." As he was handed a dagger ready to end her life, a white booted foot came flying out of nowhere and collided straight with the male Faunus' face. "What?!"

"You lay another hand on my teammate, and I know my wife here won't hesitate to rip those wings off," Fox threatened as he made his way up behind her, following Neo's attack on Yuma.

"So, she _does_ have friends," he spat, "how pitiful though that they're all human."

"You say that now, but when these humans are beating your faces into the dirt for trying to hurt not only us but a fellow Faunus, you'll see how pitiful we really are. Especially as you were trying to kill my favourite teammate." ~ _No offence, just trying to get a point across.~_

~ _Sure..._ ~ Neo joked back, her gaze not wavering from the pair ahead of them. The Spider Faunus skipped the back and forth, favouring instead a direct attack. She fired her silk to catch Neo, but the mute was prepared for it and dodged out of the way of it, catching the strand that was coming after it. She couldn't detach herself from it fast enough, as Neo yanked it and pulled her towards her hard, bringing the grey haired Faunus face in direct line with Neo's fist. Yuma flew in and swiped at Fox. He ducked under the attack, then jumped back to avoid the second swing at him. Yuma was on the offensive the entire time, but Fox was much nimbler that he was and remained out of reach with every swipe.

Being otherwise occupied with trying to attack Fox, Yuma didn't see Neo freeing Velvet from her webbed prison; her blade slicing through the silk like it was nothing.

{" _Are you alright Velv?_ "}

"We kick his ass first," she replied, bypassing the question and speaking with rage in her usually timid voice, "then you can ask again." Neo nodded, not wishing to have Velvet's anger directed her way, and helped the Rabbit stand.

"Why do you insist on fighting for her?" Yuma interrogated, pinning Fox to the floor and trying his best to attack him, "she is a Faunus, and you are not. Surely, she is beneath you."

"And here I was thinking you were on her side," Fox shot back snarkily. "'She' is a Huntress, 'she' is my teammate, and 'she' fights for what she knows is right the _right_ way, not through some perverted ideas and twisted views on the world."

"If she fights with you, then it is her views that are twisted."

"How's _this_ for twisted?" came Velvet's response. Before either had a chance to react, the mage flew at Yuma and landed a kick right on the joint of his left wing, breaking it with ease considering the surprise attack, the fact he didn't get a chance to bring up his Aura fast enough and the force behind it. He screamed in pain, releasing his hold on the scarred man. She landed another kick on the back of his leg bringing him to the floor completely, then as he turned to fight her instead, she landed one more swift yet powerful kick straight to the face, knocking him down and out of the count.

The Rabbit puffed and panted, wanting nothing more than to continue beating on him, but she knew better and decided to walk away.

"Velv? You okay?"

"I'm fine, let's just go." He saw it in her eyes, she was anything _but_ fine. In fact, she looked about thirty seconds away from breaking down in tears.

~ _Grab our stuff; her Beacon's still up, so follow that._ ~ The heterochromatic woman nodded, then promptly vanished in a hail of shards back towards the terminal. "Velvet, are you sure you're fine? They seemed to be quite-"

"I said I'm fine, Fox!" she shouted back, glaring at him. He may have been blind many years ago, but now he could see as clear as day the tears that were welling up in her eyes as the adrenaline was dissipating and reality was coming back into play. "I'm okay." He had a sneaking suspicion that she'd said that more to herself than him. Sure enough, the energy had faded and with that came the waterworks.

First it was a single choked sob.

Then a second, fighting through to be heard.

Then a third.

And on the fourth sob, Velvet began crying. Hard. Fox ran up and caught her as her legs gave way from underneath her, all of her energy going into the tears now coming on thick and fast, and he just cuddled her close, swaying side to side.

"It's okay. It's alright, I'm here. No one else is going to hurt you."

* * *

Once she had retrieved their things, Neo came back to find Velvet cuddling up close to Fox in the back seat of the car. She may have been there to pick them up from the airport, but in the state she was in Fox was outright refusing to let her drive, even if it was a short drive home.

"Neo, it's fine," she insisted, "I can drive. You've just come back off holiday-"

"And you've just been attacked by a group of strangers. I'd much rather see you at home and safe than you worrying at the wheel all the way home." His voice came across very protective, and she was thankful for that. Right now, she wanted - no, she _needed_ to feel safe.

~ _I suppose this isn't a bad thing after all,_ ~ she thought to herself.

_Security._

Her small smile grew as she felt the emotions flooding through her Mate's Mark. Coco had supposedly felt the turmoil going on with her and decided that this was the best course of action for her, considering she was as far away as she was at the moment.

"...Neo says she'll get us home as fast as she safely and legally can, and I agree. Coco needs to know you're alright. I can already see her worrying."

The mage's face lit up with a small smile. She was tempted to ask why Neo included the 'legal' bit in there, but she wasn't feeling the banter at the moment, so settled on a simple, "Thank you Neo," something the mute smiled back at in response.

The trip back home wasn't interrupted at all, which Velvet was thankful for. Chief among the numerous reasons she was thankful was that she knew, even without her Mark, that Coco would be close to breaking down in a full-on panic about her. The sooner she got home to her, the better it would be for everyone involved.

Second was that Coco was amazing at comforting her and making her feel safe. That meant no disrespect to Fox, who was currently sat in the back seat of the car with her head on his lap, his fingers stroking her hair and rubbing her shoulders. As people who were both very shy and introverted at the start of their time at Beacon, and with everyone present fully aware that Velvet was Fox's first crush at Beacon, or anywhere for that matter, this would have been great for them both several years ago. But now, both Fox and Velvet had beautiful girlfriends that became beautiful wives, and each of them did a lot better at comforting their respective partners than the rest if their team ever could, knowing what to do at every moment in a way that seemed alien or magical - whichever you prefer - to anyone else.

Third, she just wanted to be at home. She wanted to sit down in a nice, familiar environment with her closest friends, her wife and her baby daughter, somewhere where there was no driving down the freeway, or fighting Grimm, or thwarting plots, or anything malicious whatsoever.

Just her and them.

And nothing else.

When they finally pulled up outside their house, Velvet could see Coco pacing about by the window before they had even stopped. The leader didn't notice the car pulling up, instead it looked like Clementine heard and started making noises, prompting Coco to them turn and see them. Velvet smiled as best as she could, making sure her wife knew that she was alright.

"Let's not keep her waiting," Fox said, opening the door and hopping out to grab his and Neo's things from the boot of the car.

The moment the door was open Coco could be heard making her way to it as fast as she possibly could, staring to make sure she saw that Velvet was alright. Her eyes started to tear up as the brown eyed wives looked at each other, one over the shattered moon that the other was safe.

"I was so worried," the gunner cried as she threw herself forward to embrace her wife, crying into the smaller woman's shoulder, "I thought I was going to lose you."

"It'd take more than that to lose me," the Faunus assured. Coco wasn't convinced.

"But I still _thought_ I was. I know she doesn't like to bring it up much, but I thought about what Ruby said about her Mom, how she was a Super Mom, only to lose her so young. I thought that was going to happen to you, and honestly if not for Yatsu and our little Clemmie, I would have been stressing out into next week."

"I'm fine Coco," she assured again, leaning in and planting a long, comforting kiss on her lips, "I'm fine. I'm home now, and that's what we're going to focus on. Alright?" The fashionista nodded, her grin growing even as the tears went.

"People will start to think that you're in charge of the team the way you continue on like that," she joked. Velvet didn't say anything else; she just laughed and kissed her again. Clementine shifted in Coco's arms, prompting both parents to look at her. "Does someone want to be held by Mommy? Do you? Go on then."

"Hey there Clemmie," cooed the Faunus, taking the child from her partner as they made their way back into the main room, "did you miss your Mommy? Did Mama look after you whilst I was gone?" Clementine made a slight noise, so she used that as an excuse to relieve the tension. "She _didn't?_ Coco Scarlatina, what did you do, rejecting our daughter like that?"

"What?! I didn't do anything wrong, I swear!" Velvet saw that Coco believed her serious, so she dropped the act immediately.

"I was kidding, Chocolate Drop. I wanted to lighten the mood a bit, that's all. Not the best time, eh?"

"No kidding! I felt lots of ' _Panic_ ' and ' _Dread_ ' all of a sudden, and then your 'Distress Beacon' went off, and I went from 0 to 100 pretty damn fast on the worry scale. I'm glad the other two were there, I wouldn't know what to do if I'd lost you."

"Or I you," she reminded her as they sat down. "But we're in this together, remember?" Coco nodded, leaning in to let her wife cuddle up to her.

"So? How was the holiday?" Yatsuhashi asked, breaking the silence they'd fallen into.

"Shit, forgot about that. Sorry guys."

"Coco!" her wife scolded.

"Shit, sorry. Shit! Fu-" a hand clamped over her mouth to stop anything else being said. "I'll shut up now…"

{" _The holiday was great. We can't thank you enough for finding that Velvet._ "}

"It was nothing you two. Before you tell us how it all went, we gotta ask you something, if that's alright?"

"Yeah… why?"

"Well, we were just wondering if-"

"How many times did you two have sex over there, and when was the first time?" Coco had to admit she was still a little hormonal after not only the birth but the incident earlier that day, so her being blunt wasn't unexpected.

"Why would we tell you that?"

"Just do it."

"I dunno, I think it was something like nine, ten times." Yatsuhashi smiled slightly, not making his emotions known. "And the first time was on the flight over." Velvet made her emotions very much known, almost shouting a 'Yes!' on hearing that. Luckily, Clementine didn't mind too much. Naturally, the couple looked between themselves trying to figure out just why she was so happy about that. As they were doing that, Yatsuhashi went to one of their cupboards and took down two envelopes. He kept one for himself and handed the other to Velvet.

"I believe these winnings are yours."

{" _You three were_ _ **betting**_ _? On what?_ "}

"Well, we knew you two were going to be going at it whilst you were away, so we were betting on when you'd start and how many times you were going down on each other." Coco glanced over at Yatsuhashi typing away on his Scroll, then at a grinning Velvet, who noticed and winked at her wife.

 _Possessive_.

~ _Oum, help me,_ ~ she begged on feeling that combined with the looks the Rabbit was giving her. "Yatsuhashi guessed correctly the number of times you'd have sex, Velvet got the first time right, so they each get the winnings from their respective envelopes."

{" _How much is in those things?_ "}

"I think we all put 150 Lien in each one," Velvet mentioned as she tore the paper to get inside, "so I'm fine with what I got. Plus, I got a little 'Bunny Bonus' from Coco because I won."

"So, you're getting, like 450 Lien each?" Fox asked, bypassing the statement from Velvet.

"We're getting at least _600_ Lien," the Faunus boasted, "Maggie bet on this as well."

"And she said that she hates you two for being too sexually active," the tank added, relaying her message out loud, "although she uses much more colourful vocabulary that I refuse to repeat in front of Clementine."

"That settles that then; now we wait a couple of months and wait to see if it's a boy or girl." The couple nodded with smiles on their faces. Team CFVYN was going to be a proper team family. "Now, let's all get to bed. I don't know about you, but I'm tired."

"That'll be the parenthood doing that," Fox teased, knowing that in less than a year's time that would be himself and Neo in the same state of exhaustion.

As everyone was making their way upstairs despite it being fairly early in the evening, Velvet leaned in to her partner and whispered "I'm going to make you wake everyone up with your screaming," into her ear. She nipped at her earlobe too, uttering "And that's a promise."

_Dear Gods, what have I gotten myself into?_


	15. As Happy As Can Be

The day they been waiting for had arrived at last.

It had been a little over nine and a half weeks since Fox and Neo got back from their holiday to Vacuo, meaning that it had just gone ten weeks since first headed off, and that meant that they were due a visit to their local doctor for an ultrasound.

~ _I'm so excited,_ ~ Neo said as she grinned, driving herself and Fox to the local doctor's surgery.

"Me too. It's such a nerve racking feeling, but I'm so glad it's finally happening." She nodded and smiled some more, reaching over with her right hand and holding onto his left as she drove.

The couple, especially Neo, had been looking forward to this day ever since they'd returned. They decided to sleep off the heated travel home, the fight with Velvet's attackers and the odd revelation that their four closest friends had bet over when and how often they'd have sex whilst on holiday and start recounting the good times they had from the next morning onwards. Obviously they didn't recount _all_ of the good times (at least, not to everyone - Coco had a weird habit of wanting to know _everything,_ to the point where they gave up trying to question and instead accepted it), but things like the mall and its subsequent gorgeous rooftop, the night lights of Lac Filio, even the people, were all talked about.

But obviously, now that they had tried for a child, the main topic on their lips (metaphorically so, in Neo's case) was that first imminent ultrasound and the journey for the team, but especially them, from that point onwards.

Velvet had inquired why they didn't want to see whether or not she was actually pregnant first before they went – the tests they bought in Vacuo weren't decorative pieces – but Neo assured her that everything will be fine. She'd been going through the same sort of emotions and feelings as Coco had, so what made her any different?

Finally arriving at the Shroud Village Doctor's Surgery, the couple made their way inside and waited. Neo couldn't keep her legs still the whole time they were in there, either tapping them absentmindedly or drumming her fingers on her knees.

"Neo, sweetie, you'll be fine."

~ _Sorry, not sorry,_ ~ she replied, ~ _we're going to see our baby for the first time. How could I not be excited?~_

"I know, I'm excited too. We've just got to-"

"Mr. and Mrs. Alistair?"

"-go and see the Doctor over there." Neo practically bounded up to the Doctor, her joy over the scenario coming to a natural head as she was about five minutes away from seeing her child for the first time.

"Hello there, my name is Doctor Doloke, I'll be the Ultrasound Technician having a look at you today." The doctor that greeted them at the corridor was a fairly large woman with dark skin and hazel eyes, but her voice was so calming and made Neo feel right at ease, just what she needed with how her heart was doing loops in her chest. "I take it this is going to be your first scan, going by the size of you?" Neo nodded, but Doctor Doloke was facing the other direction and so didn't see the action take place. "It's alright to be nervous my dear, I won't judge."

"Sorry Doctor, but N- but _Orchid_ is mute."

"I'm sorry, I should have known."

"It's alright, we get that a lot." The understanding Doctor smiled at that, then proceeded to continue down to the room where the ultrasound was taking place. Walking into intimate space, they saw two of the four walls decorated in a very minimalistic manner. They were adorned with the occasional image of children on them, likely images of previous people who'd entered the room and gotten what they'd wanted.

The wall of the room directly opposite the door was a soft lemon colour with a stack of vertical shelves in the far left corner. It also housed a worktop with a small sink and hand sanitiser on the wall. The walls on the left and right of the entrance were much lighter in colour, favouring more of an egg white tone. The right wall housed a single light in the middle between two of the aforementioned picture frames, whereas the left had only a single television screen positioned high up so that the person in the chairs could see the screen clearly. The chair Fox was in was a small, white leather swivel number, as was the Doctor's albeit hers appeared the less comfortable option of the two. Neo's chair was a much larger chair with a reclining headrest positioned in the middle of the two.

"Neither of you are Faunus, are you?" They silently replied with 'No'. "Okay then; this machine can irritate some Faunus with acute hearing, so it's always in their best interests and our own to ask beforehand, even if people don't have the traits."

~ _Velvet must have_ _ **hated**_ _this place then.~_

"Now, if you two want to take a seat in your chairs, I'll prep everything up for you and we can get started." The couple did as they were told, smiling to each other as they did so.

~ _I'm so proud of you Neo,_ ~ he admitted with a smile on his face and a gleam in his eye.

~ _I can't take all of the credit, you made this possible,_ ~ she countered as she eased herself down on her seat. Fox reached out his hand to hold hers, and she happily accepted it. A cheeky grin grew on her face as their fingers interlocked. ~ _This ought to confuse her.~_

"Now, I'm going to apply this gel to your stomach, and that will ma- ah!" What Doctor Doloke saw when she turned around was most peculiar; Neo was currently sitting in the smaller chair and Fox was lying down in the large reclining chair with his top up to expose his stomach. "I… what are you doing?"

"We're sitting and lying down," Fox answering in confusion, "is… that not what you asked us to do?"

"... I don't know whether you two are playing a joke on me, or whether you are genuinely confused about how this is supposed to go, but I am paid to scan the _female_ of a couple for the child inside of them. If this truly is a joke, then it was more shock value than 'ha ha' funny, but seeing as you are both old enough I know that not to be true. Now, swap yourselves around _now,_ or I will send you out and you can go find somewhere else to have the scan for wasting our time and potentially our resources as well." The person sitting down looked at the one on the middle seat with a panicked expression, something they understood and nodded at. Suddenly, the couple's images started to shimmer as 'Fox' turned back into Neo on the reclined seat and 'Neo' in the chair became Fox again.

"Sorry, she's done that a couple of times before. She gets a small laugh from it."

"Well, perhaps it's not best to do that at a time like this. Please, do not try and pull that sort of stunt again Orchid, okay?" The mute nodded fearfully as the Doctor grabbed some more of the gel. "I'm going to put this on your stomach, get a nice solid coating over it, and then use this machine to get a good look inside and see your little one. Sound good to you?" Neo smiled, easing herself into a more comfortable position so that she could see the screen without overstretching herself.

Doctor Doloke followed through with what she said she would do, covering Neo's stomach in the gel (which she mentioned to Fox ' _is really cold and kind of tickles_ ') and let it sit for about a minute. In that time, she explained how this gel has slightly more of an effect than the normal gel would because it can help get readings through people's Auras; as a side effect they may feel a tingly sensation, something Fox said that she was mentioning it doing so. Once it had sat there for a minute, she started putting the device on her stomach.

"This machine emits a very high pitched sound, one too high for human ears to detect, into you to map out the inside of your womb and therefore your baby as well. It's why I asked if you two were Faunus', we would have provided earbuds to try and minimise the discomfort. Speaking of which, this may be a bit cold." She lay the device on the woman's stomach and, sure enough, it was cold to the touch. Neo did her best not to jolt away from the sudden freezing cold metal against her skin, knowing that if it's removed she'll have to have it reapplied again, thus colder. It'll warm up on her skin eventually.

Neo looked at Fox again, a smile on her face as Doctor Doloke scanned her. The Doctor herself was smiling. But after a minute of scanning, she couldn't find anything.

"Odd…" the hazel eyed woman mused, turning up the device to its highest frequency. She scanned again, but she wasn't exactly sending out the most positive of vibes about the whole situation.

"What's the matter, Doc?" The woman looked at the dark skinned man with a concerned look, then back at the screen on the wall.

"I apologise if this comes across a bit forward, but are you two most definitely certain you managed to successfully copulate to try for a child."

~ _Of course we did!_ ~ Neo was shouting at her, thankful and equally not for the barrier her voice put up to stop the woman getting an earful from her. ~ _I've even got video proof. Fox, tell her I've got proof that we did.~_

~ _I am_ _ **not**_ _telling the Doctor that you have video proof.~_

~ _Why not?_ ~ she teased.

The Doctor grabbed some paper towels and wiped the ice cream woman's stomach, cleaning the gel away as she placed the machine back with a heavy sigh. "Doctor Doloke, what happened?"

"I'm sorry to have you two do this, but I will need you to go to Vale Hospital for a scan. They may even need to take a few scans. Obviously as a village practitioner for here I can only do so much, so the staff and equipment at the main Hospital can provide much better care and treatment there than I ever could." What she said true; the little village CFVYN lived in, Shroud, really didn't have a lot in comparison to the main wards at any of the Kingdoms' much larger main Hospitals.

"Would you mind telling us _why_ though?"

"I'm not sure I can, which is why I want you to go now."

* * *

The remaining members of CFVYN were at home working through various things. Coco was in the kitchen chopping vegetables for their meal later tonight, whilst Velvet was looking for missions on their Scroll for them to go on in a week; her and Coco's maternity leave from their Huntsmen lives didn't technically expire for another few months, but a small mission with only one of them leaving here and there wouldn't hurt to keep them going, especially with a growing family on the way. Yatsuhashi was left with caring for Clementine, not that it really mattered to the little Faunus child at all. She was very content being gently rocked in the giant's arms, her still-growing face muscles contorting into better attempts at smiles when she truly felt at ease in his embrace.

Coco's Scroll started to buzz on the counter in their little kitchen, and the ringtone told her that it was Fox.

"Could you get that for us sweetie? I'm a little tied up."

"Sure thing." Velvet made her way into the kitchen to grab the Scroll, 'conveniently' passing by Coco to give her bum a bit of a playful slap before picking the Scroll up and answering.

"Cheeky," the fashionista said, glancing back at her wife, who simply winked in response.

"Hey there Fox! How's everything-" Her smile faded at whatever was being said to her over the Scroll, and Coco noticed immediately. Not only did she hear Velvet's happiness drop, but she felt suddenly confused and sad. And knowing that she wasn't growing any emotional connection to the vegetables she was chopping, she spun around to see what had put a dampener on the Faunus' mood. "Really? … Well, yeah, of course I'm going to worry, we _all_ are. … Fox, you can't stop us from doing that. … I know, just … ju- … just listen, please! … Thank you. Now, you go there and keep us updated, we'll keep something for you when you get home, alright? … Good. Thanks for the call. … Yeah, so I've been told. … Love you too Fox, but don't tell Neo. … Oh she already knows? Well, we'll be having a talk later then won't we? … Alright, bye." Her small smile faded again, replaced by a hard frown.

"Mind sharing what was said?" her Mate asked as Yatsuhashi walked in, hearing the conversation himself.

"They're being sent to the Vale Hospital."

* * *

"Mrs. Alistair?" Neo was much less excited to hear her name called out this time. She rose and walked over, Fox on her heel the whole time. "My name is Doctor Neket, I'll be seeing you today. I've had some information sent through to me from Doctor Doloke at the Shroud Village Doctor's Surgery, so what we're going to do is run a few simple tests on you, then whilst they're being processed we can take you back in for another ultrasound. Sound good to you?" The mute nodded, handing her Scroll across to the doctor with a pre-typed message.

**Sorry for the silence, I'm mute**

"Oh, that's alright. We can have a couple of staff here today assisting me who know some Sign Language to communicate with you, if that's alright?" She nodded again, briefly smiling at the lady before they continued on.

~ _Would you like me to speak for you from time to time, or are you happy to speak in Sign for a while?~_

~ _Sign will be okay._ ~ She didn't even move her eyes as she said that, focussing with laser sight on where she was going. Fox closed the gap between them, slipping his hand into hers.

~ _I'm here for you Neo. You know that, right?~_

With a squeeze, she responded with a glum sounding ~ _Yeah, I know.~_

The moment they had walked into the first room, Neo was asked to do what she deemed a myriad of various different things at once, all whilst the doctors worked around her, taking notes and analysing the results. Physically, she was perfectly fit and healthy, and her Aura was strong from the years of training she'd had with it. But once the issue of past medical history came up, things only worsened for her.

{" _DAG Syndrome?_ "} a nurse asked, his eyebrows arching on hearing that.

{" _I've had it for years, practically all my life. All I know is that I reacted negatively to a dosage of an experimental cure that resulted in my Aura attacking me from the inside and I lost my voice from it. And I've said before, you can speak to me normally - I'll just reply like this._ "}

"If you insist," the doctor complied. "We will need to run you through a quick scan of your body, just to see if there were any lasting effects from that initial DAG attack. It will only take five minutes, but the results may be a little longer. Shall we?" Neo nodded, but stopped after a single step. She held up a finger to say, "Hold on", then crossed over to Fox.

~ _I'm going to have a scan, should be about ten, fifteen minutes. You can go and get something to eat if you want, save waiting around for me growing hungry.~_

~ _I'll be fine.~_

~ _You'll be worrying through your energy reserves, is what you'll be doing. Go eat._ ~ She smirked at him as he rolled his eyes, then leaned in to give a quick kiss on the lips before shooting off their separate ways.

* * *

**Fox:  
_She's gone off for yet another test_**

_**She also has made me go and get some food in me** _

Velvet let out a short, breathy giggle on reading that, replying as best she could in her current state. All three members of CFVYN not at the hospital were worrying not only for their oldest teammate, but also for Fox as well. Coco even went as far as to wonder aloud if either Neo or Fox had eaten, because they can't go on for long without something in them. But of the three, Velvet was worrying the most. She was the closest to Fox in the team before Neo came along, and she was probably the first friendly face Neo had seen since she was last at her parents' place when she woke from the hospital their first time. Plus, her hormones were still all over the place from the pregnancy, so her body still trying to readjust itself after it all and as such was still rather emotional from time to time.

**Velvet:  
_She knows what's good for you._**

_**If you're sitting around doing nothing, your going to get hungry.** _

_**If, and I'm not saying this** **will** **happen, but if something bad happens, you're going to be more emotional if you're hungry.**_

**Fox:  
_Yes Mooom ;)_**

**Velvet:  
_Enough with the sass mister, go eat! And stay strong for one another x_**

**Fox:  
_Sure. Thanks for keeping me sane Velv x_**

**Velvet:  
_You never were sane to begin with ;P_**

**Fox:  
_Ha ha._**

After finding some food and wolfing it down so that he wouldn't miss anything, Fox came back to the waiting room with Neo already waiting for him there, her face a little downcast.

~ _Lien for your thoughts, stranger?~_

~ _Well… I keep getting approached by these weird men in here. It's always the same; guys in robes, girls in robes, it's like a cult.~_

~ _Those are the doctors.~_

~ _Is that their cult name?~_

~ _They're not a cult, Neo._ ~

~ _Sure. I'll let you believe what you want to, but **I** see through their lies._~ The couple silently laughed at their back and forth, Neo resting her head on her husband's shoulder and taking his hand in hers. ~ _I'm scared Fox.~_

~ _Yeah, this is pretty terrifying.~_

~ _I don't even know what to do now. Like, where do we go from here?_ ~ She tried finding an answer in his eyes, but all she saw was a look she recognised. One that mirrored her own eyes perfectly.

Complete and utter uncertainty.

* * *

"Mrs. Alistair?" a doctor called after nearly thirty minutes of nothing. Her head shot up to look the doctor in the eyes, but judging by the expression he was trying to hide she could tell that this wasn't going to be pleasant. "Please, follow me. You too sir, it'll be best if both of you are present."

Despite nothing bad being explicitly said, the very manner in which the couple were approached already had warning bells and sirens going off in her head. And as they were going off, the world around them dulled down.

There were no full sounds anymore, only muffled echoes of what they should be. Colours also ceased to be, favouring black, white and the hundreds of shades of grey in between the two extremes. Time seemed to have crawled to a standstill.

Everything was just going wrong for Neo, and as reality came back to her as she took the first step, she felt powerless. She felt scared. Worst of all, even with the one person in her life who would be there for her through thick and thin by her side, she felt alone.

They walked into a solitary room away from the bustling of the main hospital chaos, furnished with nothing more than a small desk on one wall and two chairs; one for the doctor, one for the patient. Neo didn't need to be told, she walked in and sat in the chair furthest from the desk. Fox stood behind her, and the doctor sat opposite.

"Mrs. Alistair, the doctors and I have run through various tests with you today following your trip to Shroud Village Surgery late this morning. As an individual, you are functioning perfectly normally with a few minor oddities in there, but that's to be expected - we are flawed creatures after all. It's only once we took tests other than physical and started examining _inside_ that something cropped up. From your description to Doctor Satirev earlier, you are fully aware of your _heterochromia borealis._ What you don't know is the full extent of it, and that's why you're here now." The couple looked on, equal parts stunned and shocked.

"Allow me to explain. Your _heterochromia borealis_ was aggravated by the very early stages of the drug we use with cases nowadays to unprecedented new heights, and as a result you lost the use of your voice, with no way to regrow it and the only option being to have a voice box transplant.

"But I digress. What doctors didn't know about then was the effect it would have on you as an adult."

{" _What do you mean?_ "} she asked, panicked.

"I'm… I'm sorry, I don't understand Sign. Perhaps I should get-"

"She asked 'What do you mean?'"

"Thank you for that. "Well, in the bluntest of terms, the _heterochromia borealis,_ when it started reacting negatively, destroyed your uterus and rendered your fallopian tubes useless. And much like your voice box, the damage done is irreversible. Due to that, as it stands right now you are incapable of conceiving."

Her eyes went white. Not ivory, or cream.

Pure white.

They had never done that before.

Then again, she'd never had news quite like this before. The tears appeared in an instant, and she was sobbing uncontrollably into Fox chest. He wasn't fairing much better, tears falling from his eyes too. Their dream of becoming a family was shattered in one fell swoop.

"I truly am sorry for having to bring you this news," the doctor added. "There are things you can do if you still want children, the most notable being adoption-" Even with teary eyes, Neo managed a stare so deadly that he stopped what he was saying immediately, choking on his own words. "... But, I see that now is not the best time to discuss this. I can either give a few pamphlets to you now, or post them to you to look at in a few days' time." Neo simply rose to her feet and left.

"Post, please. Our address should be on record now." And with that, Fox went after his heartbroken wife.

* * *

Radio silence, unless ordered upon people, was normally bad. Well, not always "bad", but at the very least it was always "not positive". And with the third hour approaching where there was nothing from either one of their friends, CVY were getting immensely worried.

"I told him to keep me posted," Velvet huffed, staring out of the front window, wishing that that action alone would get them home faster.

"Maybe he's been taken to do some tests," Yatsuhashi suggested, "and that is why he can't message you."

"But three _hours?_ Something big must have happened to not respond for three whole hours."

"I agree, but we can't stay here doing nothing for much longer. I don't think my heart can take it." The Faunus wandered over to her towering teammate, leaning against his chest.

"It'll be alright Velvet. I'm sure there is a reason."

"Anything?" Coco asked, coming downstairs after putting Clementine in her cot for a nap. Yatsuhashi glanced up at her, then shook his head. "Urgh! What's taking them so long?" She moved around to the sofa they were both on, leaning against Yatsuhashi's chest just as her mate was.

"Am I everyone's pillow now?"

"Well yeah, I thought you'd know that by now," Coco quipped.

"Just because I am a big guy does not make me a pillow."

"Sure it-" the jingling of keys outside broke the conversation as all three people stood and went to the door, seeing Fox and Neo coming in. "Thank the Gods, we've been so worried about you! What happened?" Neo ignored all the fuss they were trying to make of her, teleporting herself halfway up the stairs to avoid pushing past them.

"Neo?" Fox grabbed the caramel haired woman's arm as she tried following Neo upstairs, halting her ascent. "Fox, the hell's going on?" He said nothing, looking up as his wife skulked into their room and shut the door.

"Is the baby alright?" Velvet asked, sounding more worried than she probably intended to be.

"T… the baby's not coming."

"What?"

"Neo's DAG Syndrome destroyed her fallopian tubes and uterus. The doctors didn't really pay it much attention before, and by the time she reached adolescence it had already been gone too long to try and fix. She can't have kids." He broke down, crying into Yatsuhashi's chest in the hallway. " _We_ can't have children." Coco felt her own eyes watering up, so she ran up the stairs and found Neo face down on her and Fox's shared bed, cuddling a pillow for comfort. The fashionista didn't even say anything to her, she just walked over to the bed and kneeled down on it, placing a hand on the mute's shoulder. In a flash, the grief stricken woman shot up and throw a strong hook to her leader's chest, one she had to block to avoid getting smacked across the room from the force. The next punch was a hammer fist down, again aimed at Coco's chest, but there was less impact behind it, so she let it hit her and used her Aura to nullify the sting of the impact.

Hit after hit, Neo kept going as tears cascaded down her face unabated. Eventually, Neo collapsed into Coco, who was crying just as hard as her friend all throughout the ordeal, and just bawled.

The outpour of negative emotions from around her caused Clementine to start crying, having gained a slight link to her two Moms' emotions. Neo heard and instinctively teleported to her crib side to pick her up and comfort her. Coco, also instinctively, reached out to stop her, even getting as far as to grab her arm to prevent her from doing anything.

But the second she did, and Neo looked at her, pleading through teary eyes to just let her hold the months old little Faunus in her arms, she relented. Neo cradled Clementine in her arms, moving to and fro as she softly rubbed the base of her rabbit ears that had now grown to near full prominence in the four months since she was born. The action caused the little girl to start making affirmative noises to say she was enjoying it, bringing a small smile to the face of the tri coloured woman.

Before she knew it, four pairs of arms cocooned her in a hug that she was more than happy to sink into as they all cried, some more than others, at the utter destruction of their oldest teammate's dream.


	16. ...oh

The door was shut.

Still.

Fox and Neo's trip to the doctor had been four days ago and the illusionist hadn't been seen for prolonged periods of time since.

All she had done in that time was remain in her room, sat in her baggy pyjama bottoms and oversized t-shirt she only wore when she went to bed, and ate ice cream straight from the tub. Most of the time she left the room was to go to the toilet or to restock on ice cream. There were some noteworthy exceptions though.

One the first night, everyone went downstairs after they had sufficiently cried their worth and tried to get normal conversation going with Neo and Fox, but the former wasn't having any of it. She excused herself and took off up to bed, Fox apologising and pursuing after her. At the door though, the copper haired man was promptly shut out as he was trying to enter.

"Neo, open the door." He was met with resounding silence, both of the physical and mental kind. "Hunny, please. I know we've had a bad day, but we _both_ need sleep." Again, silence. "Look, Neo, I don't want to argue over something like this, so can we-" The door suddenly swung open and Neo was standing there, her hidden blade pulled out, pointing the tip directly at Fox's neck.

"... Couch?" She nodded once. "Okay." She shut the door on him.

The other time happened just last night. Fox had been allowed back into their room to sleep after two nights on the couch, but he still respected his wife's privacy and remained quiet about anything relating to the incident.

If anything, all he said to her since he'd been back in was not much more than "Good morning" and "Goodnight".

But last night, Fox heard Clementine start to cry in bed. He remembered the holiday he and Neo had and why they had to have it, so he stayed back. But no sooner had that thought gone through his head, he heard a shattering of glass next to him and the covers fell back to the bed as the body that once was there suddenly disappeared.

Both Coco and Velvet heard the same shattering and were up in a flash, the latter even calling their child's name. Neo saw them looking at her, so she took her leave instantly and teleported back to her room, at which point Fox had already jumped out of bed and was running across the hall to look out for the little girl.

The one-sided conversation that followed didn't exactly leave the household broken, but there were definitely going to be a couple of trust issues in the immediate future.

Which leads us to now.

"She's been in there all day again," Yatsuhashi commented from their dining room table, the original members of CFVY all there with warm drinks in hand to combat a particularly cold spell they've been having recently in Vale. Clementine was in her little swinging chair next to her Faunus Mother.

"She won't budge though," Fox added as he stared into his half-finished and cooling cup, his solemn face reflecting back in the murky brown liquid of his drink, "Oum knows we've tried. Every single one of us have, but she's just going to stay up there."

"Well she can't stay up there forever," their leader affirmed, "we've got missions again in a week, High-B Tier stuff to get us back into the swing of things, and if we don't start going on them we'll get the support for us being out of action wiped instantly as opposed to gradually, and then we'll _really_ be screwed."

"We could just go on them without her." CFY stopped to look at Velvet like she'd just kicked a puppy - not that any one of them knew what that looked like personally. "What? We need to think things through logically. If Neo isn't going to join us on missions that we _need_ to do in order to stay financially afloat for a while, then why can't we go and get some done ourselves? Besides, they're B Tiers." The Faunus indicated to the two men at the table. "You two did B Tiers with Neo for a while when we were waiting for a little someone to arrive, weren't we~?" She turned her attention to the little girl, her timbre changing to one that sounded far more positive and upbeat than it previously was. The direct address caused the smaller Faunus to let out a small giggle whilst she tried to grab her Mommy, something that brought a much more genuine smile to her face as she leaned down and rubbed her nose against her daughter's.

"You need to remember Velvet that we aren't a four piece anymore. Team CFVYN is a five person team."

"I know that-"

"Then we need to _act_ like it!" She took a final swig of her coffee, finishing it off, before readdressing the other three. "I really hate doing this, especially when we're not actually on a mission, but if you're not going to listen, then you need to start listening sharpish. Team CFVY may have made a name for itself in our First Year and Second Year, but when CFVY ceased to be and CFVYN took its place, we've done so much more. A lot of that, no offense to you three, was down to Neo and what she brought to the table.

"Yes, I agree with you Bun-Bun, we have completed B Tier, heck, even some A Tier missions, with one of us absent since we became Team CFVYN, but that was when we had no choice to do so. But this? _This_ is something where we _do_ have a choice. We leave Neo here, and we're leaving behind 20% of the team. We're not having her stay behind; we would be _leaving her_ behind. What sort of teammates would we be if we did that?" Save the odd noise from Clementine, the room was silent.

"I'm sorry for not thinking straight Coco."

"Don't beat yourself up, hunny-bun," the leader said, walking over and placing a kiss between the Faunus' Rabbit ears, "you were thinking about us as a family, and I kind of see that, but you weren't looking at everything. This party of sev-" she caught herself, but not before the damage had already been done; Fox sighed and slumped his head almost in shame at the number, "party of _six_ needs to go on, we need to fight harder every time and still come out as winners.

"Executive decision: we need to get Neo on to these first missions. This is something we can't ignore, she'll need as much distraction as possible until she's back to normal, or as close to 'back to normal' as she can be, given everything." As she rounded everything off, she hauled her baby girl into her arms, cradling her. "All of us have a duty to protect Clementine from harm. As it stands right now, unless anyone objects, that extends to Neo too." They all nodded in agreement, all except Clementine, who cooed instead. Coco wanted to believe her baby was cooing in agreement, but deep down she knew the cooing was just because she found out that could use her vocals, and Gods was she going to use them.

Unbeknownst to everyone present, Neo had created a mirror illusion around herself to make her body practically invisible. She had been standing in the hallway the entire time, listening to the group discuss her and… actually making some very decent observations and calls about it all.

 _They do care about you,_ she chastised herself as she snuck her way back up the stairs again.

{" _I think she'll come around soon,_ "} Fox signed, having heard her little aside. The others acknowledged but did not speak of it for fear she was still within earshot.

* * *

Despite the fact the door was left slightly ajar, Neo still wasn't feeling like interacting with anyone the following day. Fox came into the room the evening before, got ready for bed and said goodnight; just as he'd done before. He'd woken up, wished her a good morning, got dressed and left the room as he'd also done before. And as much as she really didn't want to be with anyone at the moment, she really did miss people.

But she wasn't ready.

At least, not for her family. These five were her family, but they were here all the time. Right now, that wasn't who she needed. She needed to see someone who she was close to, but who wasn't around too often to know everything at the drop of a hat.

She needed to see Maggie again.

So for the first time in the past few days, Neo got herself out of her sleepwear and made her way to the bathroom.

Everyone else was up at this point, including Clementine. She, Velvet and Coco were all going out shopping to get some more food for the week, but stopped in the doorway when they heard the water pump fire into life and the shower coming on.

Coco offered a grin to her teammates, asking for them to "Keep us posted", before the Mates and their daughter left the house to go shopping.

About 25 minutes later, as Fox was hoovering the main hall and Yatsuhashi doing some work on one of the cabinets they believe has a screw loose inside, Neo made her way down the stairs. She wasn't wearing anything overtly fancy - a baby pink t-shirt under a large grey hoodie and some raw denim coloured jeans with deeper grey pumps - and her makeup was very minimalistic, but Fox was just happy to see her making an effort today. Small steps forward were better than none taken at all.

"Hey," he said, switching the vacuum off to be heard. She responded with a ghost of a smile, barely making eye contact. "You heading out?"

~ _I was going to go see Maggie,_ ~ came her answer, picking up the keys to the smaller of the group's two vehicles. When the couple found out Neo couldn't have children, she was so distraught that she made a beeline home, forgoing the car and leaving it in the car park. Velvet and Fox went to go pick it up the next day, having to apologise for leaving it there. Fox could drive the car, he just didn't have the licence to do it legally, so Velvet was leading him home in one car as he drove behind in the other, all while going very carefully to not draw suspicion to himself.

"Okay. Any guesses on when you'll be home?" She shook her head.

~ _I'll be as long as I will, I won't promise anything.~_

"Okay. As long as you're happy and safe, that's all I ask." He crossed the gap and hugged her, planted a loving kiss on her forehead. "I love you Neo. Don't forget that." She melted into the embrace, forming the first proper smile she'd had in a week.

~ _I won't._ ~ With that, they broke off and went about their tasks once more; Fox cleaning, Neo going out to see her friend.

* * *

Coco and Velvet were walking down the fruit and veg aisle in the supermarket when Coco's Scroll went off.

**Fox:  
_She's up and out. Went to go see Maggie, but doesn't know when she'll be back_**

**Coco:  
_Thanks for the update x_**

"She's gone to see Maggie."

"Good; she's always been good to her, maybe she can help her some more." On hearing her Momma saying Maggie's name, the Faunus child smiled and made positive noises. "What was that~? Did Momma say Auntie Maggie's name~?" The child cooed again. "She _did~!_ "

Coco couldn't help but stare. "Gods, I love you."

"I know, but don't let on." She smiled back cheekily, making the fashionista's grin grow even wider.

* * *

Maggie wasn't at work today and wasn't expecting anyone, so she was surprised when the bell to her flat went off.

"Hello?" Nobody answered. But the bell started ringing again. A long ring followed by a short one, then another short one after a pause, then three longer rings again after another pause. Morse Code: the only way that Neo could say that she was downstairs. "Hey Neo. Come on up, I'll buzz you in."

Three minutes later, there was a knock on Maggie's actual door. She'd dressed herself semi-properly - having only been lounging around in just an oversized t-shirt and panties before - and now wore some jogging bottoms, a more form fitting, long sleeved top and a bra underneath it. She decided that brushing her hair and applying makeup was a pointless exercise though; Neo had seen her post-coitus on more than one occasion, she wasn't fussed about how she looked.

"Hey there Ne… o…" The way Neo stood outside Maggie's door made her look small, not because she is, but because of how she stood and looked. She did not make eye contact at all, instead favouring the carpet below her. Her shoulders were drawn in as far as they'd physically go, and her hands cupped on another in front of her, fiddling with her wedding ring as a way of keeping herself preoccupied. And what shocked the Arctic Fox Faunus most of all was the single streak of black from her right eye where her thinly applied mascara had run from her own tears.

Knowing what works with Neo, Maggie turned around and pushed her bum out towards the woman slightly, letting her tail wiggle in front of the tri coloured woman's face. In almost a trance like state, Neo stuck her arms out and started to hug the tail, rubbing her hand gently along it, resting her cheek against the soft fur. Maggie let out an airy chuckle before taking tiny steps back into her flat. Not wanting to let the fluffy tail get away, Neo followed it inside, still stroking it as she walked. Once through the front door, Maggie had to loop behind her to shut it, as she knew there was no getting the pink, brown and ivory limpet off her tail once attached unless it wanted to let go. Waddling further into the flat, they came to the woman's main room. It housed a moderately sized tele, along with a cabinet for some personal things and booze, a couple of coffee tables situated either side of her three person settee in the middle of the room - quite literally the centrepiece of her space - and a small but functioning dinner table, meant for three, yet usually used by just one. Maggie waddled to one end of her sofa and stopped, but she let her tail continue moving. Eventually, she brought her tail around the front of her so that she could grab Neo herself. The second she did, she grinned and threw herself onto the settee, taking the mute with her and landing on her side with Neo snuggled up close.

"I'm not letting go until you spill." That was a fact, and they both knew it. One time, Maggie had to call Fox and tell him that Neo wouldn't be coming home because she refused to talk for hours on end, and that it was probably not going to change. It didn't change for a good hour or so more after that call to him.

This time though, her words were a trigger. The floodgates opened again after days of being barred up, and Neo was crying into Maggie's chest. Carolina blue eyes shot open in surprise as the tears suddenly appeared.

"Neo, what's wrong? Nothing normally shakes you like this." Maggie was worried, and rightfully so; she'd not heard from Neo really in months, not because they didn't want to talk, but because there was nothing to talk about. The last time she'd seen her was after they'd gotten back from Vacuo, excluding any time she was asked to babysit Clementine when CFVYN went out as a team, those were all passing hellos and the odd "how was she?".

 **Kids** , was all that Neo typed out on her Scroll.

"Is this about yours?" the Faunus asked, taking care not to push too hard if the woman in her arms didn't want to say, figuratively speaking. But she did answer, nodding at the question. "Did… did you miscarry?" The smaller woman clenched her hands at the word, forgetting that she was holding her best friend's tail in one. "Ow! My tail still exists." The tight grip loosened, and Neo recoiled a bit, leaning back to place a caring kiss on the fur. "What am I going to do with you?" she asked. Neo smiled through her tears, and the sight made Maggie feel so much better, even before the original question had been answered. "But I take it that was a 'yes' then?" Neo's smile went away, trading instead to a frown.

**It's not a miscarriage if you can't carry to begin with.**

The words on the screen took their time sinking into the Arctic Fox's brain. Eventually, the gravity of the sentence dawned on her and she stared back, gasping as she did so.

**When I was a kid, I got given a shot meant to calm my DAG Syndrome. It worked, until it didn't. It made my Aura go crazy and it took my voice. It also destroyed my uterus and fallopian tubes, but I didn't know that until recently because I've never needed them before.**

Maggie felt herself filling up with sorrow, just as she imagined the woman in her arms felt when she got the news. Neo typed out one more thing before crying again. Maggie had to take the Scroll from her friend to read it, but all it did was confirm in four horrible words what she had said before.

**I can't have children**

* * *

It took an hour of cradling Neo to break her out of her stupor, but eventually she managed to bring a smile to her face that lasted for longer than a second. Once she was happy and willing to do so, the couple went out to the local corner shop and stocked up on essentials for their 'Chase the Bad Away' Day they _were_ going to have; Maggie made it abundantly clear that Neo was not leaving her sight until she was completely happy again. So, they got themselves a really cheesy comedy that neither of them had seen, a bag of popcorn each and, naturally, two tubs of ice cream.

Their movie date started with a nice long movie that, whilst they both had seen it, was there for the soul purpose of getting them both to the state of blubbering messes on the sofa. Plus, it gave them a catalyst for both of them to cry themselves of dry of tears.

"Man," Maggie sniffled as the credits finished, a mound of tissues by her side, "I know he does mostly horror, but you got to admit, King is fantastic."

**Yup. I never thought I'd enjoy The Emerald Kilometre when I first saw it. Boy I was wrong. I still love it.**

"Preaching to the choir on that one. Now, since we've cried ourselves out of tears, who wants to laugh their asses off?" Neo raised her hand like a kid at school wanting to be picked, stretching herself as far as she could manage to do so. "I want to see it with… Neo." Even though she was alone, Neo still felt accomplished for being picked, cheering and throwing herself at Maggie for a tackle hug and a loving kiss on the cheek. "Watch it missy, that ring on your finger means something, let's not go ruining its meaning." The illusionist stared at the Faunus with a cheeky grin, wiggling her eyebrows and shrugging at the comment.

Once she was done prying the woman off her, they put the new movie on. It was one they'd seen had been circulating around for a while but neither managed to get around to seeing.

**Miss Frio, are you sure I can watch this movie? It says it's R, and I'm not old enough for R movies. Mommy and Daddy said so.**

"Oh, little Orchid… I don't give a shit!" Neo faked a gasp as the Faunus smirked. "You're going to watch this movie, and you're going to love it, and at the end, you're probably going to know a whole bunch of new words to tell your Mommy and Daddy." Neo couldn't keep the act up as she silently started laughing. "Hey! No wasting your laughs," she said, clicking play, "let's see what Deadpool's _really_ like."

108 minutes later, both women had laughed so hard that it was hurting.

"That was amazing," the Faunus commented, standing up and stretching as Neo played with her Scroll, "why hadn't we seen that before?" Neo shrugged. "Right, are you feeling better now?" Neo nodded. "If I were to kick you out now, which I _might_ do, would you go home and speak to your team?" Neo hesitated for a second before nodding. "Good. Do you want to go home now?" Neo didn't confirm or deny, she just stood up, prompting the host to do the same. "Well then, let's get you home then."

The mute started walking, but jumped to Maggie as she got close, wrapping her arms around her middle and teleporting the pair of them to her room, the sudden displacement causing the Arctic Fox to stumble and fall conveniently onto her bed. "Oh, ha ha. You got me. Well do-mmph!" She was stopped by a pair of soft lips pressing against her own. As much as she knew she shouldn't do this (Neo was married, for Oum's sake!), she found herself melting into the kiss just a little bit too easily.

It was stopped, however, when a very distinctive saxophone solo started playing beside her. Her carolina blue eyes opened to stare at the screen, seeing a man with impeccable hair staring off to one side as the cover. As she looked back at the perpetrator, who was grinning like a madwoman, she closed her eyes and mimicked the same movement she'd seen twice before in the last two hours.

'Wham!' the mute mouthed, unable to copy the quote exactly.

"You teleported us to my room just so you could pull the 'Wham!' joke? … Got to give you points for committing to a punchline."

**I was thinking we could recreate more than the "Wham!" bit ;)**

"Neo…" she groaned, pushing the smaller woman up off her. "You are married. We can't just 'go at it' anymore." She went to type something on her Scroll. " _Even if_ you and Fox have a 'Semi-Open Relationship'." She stopped typing. "Why?"

**Why what?**

"Don't play dumb. There's always a reason with you, and that's not necessarily a good thing all the time; I'd just like to know. You have a husband who can fulfil your needs much better than I can, if that's what you're after." Blue eyes stared at pink and brown, two colours that switched multiple times in the stare as a form of intimidation. It didn't work on Maggie and, it never really had, so in the end Neo conceded.

**Ever since I found out I'm barren, the mere thought of being intimate with Fox became a weird sensation. I don't want to be thinking that. I want to be with someone who can enjoy themselves as I do and not have to worry about anything like this.**

Even though there was no guarantee that Maggie would be on the same word as what Neo guessed she was, the tri coloured woman circled her own belly on "this".

"Fox honestly would give a shit about that. I know if _I_ were a dude I wouldn't. You miss out on the final stage of unprotected sex, that being pregnancy, but everything else remains the same. Don't let one thing ruin that for you."

With a heavy head and a silent sigh, the short woman typed out a defeated sounding, **Too late for that**

"Neo, please. Don't beat yourself up about it." The pink and brown haired woman looked away, not wishing to bring the mood down after such a good couple of hours in front of the tele laughing. "Urgh; one round. That's all. Then I'm taking you straight home and you're talking to your team." Neo smiled at the first bit, then let said smile drop a little on hearing the second bit. "Bitch, I will tie you to a chair and make you."

**Sounds like a fun idea, but how will you get me talking to my team?**

"... You are an incorrigible little shit, d'you know that?" She nodded, seeming almost proud at the fact. "If we do that now, you explain everything to them, alright? And the fact we did this too; I don't want your husband losing his shit on hearing we did this behind his back - not that I think he will, but the point still stands." With a thumbs up, Neo threw her top off almost too eagerly and jumped so her back was up against the headrest of the bed. "I worry about you, y'know. You're into some of the weirdest shit."

* * *

Once Neo had been successful delivered home and explained everything to everyone, including what the pair had done and Neo's reasons behind it, Maggie went home and jumped straight onto her Scroll. She had a little bit of research to do.

Finding what she wanted to in about 40 minutes, double checking to ensure the credibility, she made a call.

* _Good evening, Haven General Hospital, how can I help you?_ *

"Hi there, could I get some information from Doctor Otum please?"


	17. Beringels and Bombshells

Mistral has the widest reaching territory in the world.

Seasoned Huntsmen are aware of this fact, as are the High Council members of Mistral; most of the local residents are very proud of this fact and some even like to boast about it a bit. Sadly, as famous as Team CFVYN were for their teamwork, efficiency and ability to balance lives as Huntsmen and family members even as an S Tier Team, they were almost comically unversed in this particular bit of information.

When their mission started ten days ago, they were given the briefing of simply 'Sweep the Sirocco Region and eliminate any threats', with orders to return to the Council in Mistral for a quick debrief before dismissal. Easy enough, shouldn't be that difficult. Now, take into account what I just said.

When the mission started _ten days ago._

Neo had perked up a little bit once the team had all got back into doing missions again after the whole bombshell of Neo's infertility, distracting herself as best as she could. The only thing that was hurt from this whole ordeal was her relationship with Fox. It wasn't as if they were on rocky ground and their marriage was falling apart, it was more that Neo was embarrassed, almost afraid, of being close to and intimate with Fox again, so she kept her distance for the time being.

The Sirocco Region spanned an area around 4/3rds the size of the main city of Vale. And whilst the region itself was home to sparse civilisations, what groups of people there were crammed themselves into very tight spaces, despite the aforementioned abundance of space. One village in particular CFVYN ran into had a population of about 300, but they were all living and working in a space no bigger than half a square kilometre of each other. Fortunately, they weren't all squashed together like sardines when working, they spread out and worked the fields outside of the village walls.

Whilst the Grimm they had to deal with while protecting the village back then were fairly straightforward, what they were currently dealing with was a completely different story.

It was the last village in the Sirocco Region that needed protecting and freeing from an onslaught of Grimm, but said creatures had managed to break their way into the village. This was unlike other places before here where Team CFVYN and a few fighters or willing volunteers in the villages fought hard enough to keep the Grimm out of the walls.

The village they were currently protecting, Ventos, was much larger than most of the others over the past two weeks. It was protected on one side by a large river running through the Region, something too grand for any land based Grimm like Ursa or Beowolves to cross. But that left only one main entrance to the village. And naturally, if you have enough of an offensive on one front, it doesn't matter how strong your defences are, it will break, and enemies will spill in. That was the reality that the people of Ventos and Team CFVYN were currently facing.

"Yatsuhashi! Ursa. On your left," came the automated call over the comms from Neo's headset as she jumped over and kicked a charging Boarbatusk, knocking it to the ground and finishing it with stab to the belly. The tank took head of her call, spying the Ursa Major lumbering towards an unfortunate family of civilians that didn't make it out before the Grimm broke through, trapped in their now destroyed house. Taking a wild guess, the swordsman believed they may see what they thought was an opportunity to escape with very few Grimm around them, and all being dealt with by the Huntsmen, but were met instead by a 9ft bear of bones and death.

"Don't worry girls," the father soothed, "it's going to be alright. If we don't fear it, it won't come any closer." He tried putting on a brave face, but he knew that an Ursa was not the type of Grimm that backed down, especially this close to prey.

"But Daddy," the youngest sobbed, "I'm so scared."

With a breath in, he accepted their fate. Hugging them all closer, he assured them. "I know, baby girl." It reared itself up slowly, ready to crush them with its sheer size and weight, but a deep battle cry rang through the streets and before anything could happen to them there was a distinct sound of metal burying itself in Grimm hide. The youngest pried her eyes open and saw a large sword sticking out of the upper body of the Ursa. Unfortunately, the body was still going to fall on them, and the time it would take for the it to fully disappear would mean that they would have been crushed twice over. Yatsuhashi ran up to their side of the Grimm before that happened, planting his feet and thrusting his hands forward to catch the monster before it killed them. He fought against the combined forces of its weight and gravity before it was eventually reduced to nothing more than blackened ash. Sighing as he spun around, he checked them over.

"Are you all alright?" The young girl ran at his legs, hugging them in relief.

"You saved us! You saved us! Thank you!"

He giggled briefly as her Father spoke, still close to his other daughter and wife. "They're not done yet sweetie, there are still Grimm out there." On cue, Coco called in on comms.

"Yatsu, we've got another couple of Grimm a few streets down from you. That should be most of them on that side. Get them and we can all regroup in the centre again."

"On it Coco." He turned his attention back to the family of four. "Get to one of the smaller entrances, they won't be able to follow you through there. Stay safe until we finish this off." The two parents nodded and ushered their children away with them, but the youngest remained clinging to the giant's leg.

"Will you be alright?" she asked honestly enough.

"I'll be fine. I'm trained to deal with this sort of thing." He cupped her cheek, his hand almost as big as her head, as he wiped a tear away. "You aren't, so you need to get to safety. You can go home once we're done."

"Will you win?"

"Of course we will," he assured, "Huntsmen always win." Four of the five people there knew that to be false, including the one saying it. But his words convinced the little girl they were intended for, and that was more than enough. As she ran off to safety with her family knowing the kind Huntsman was going to win for them all, the olive skinned tank turned about to grab his weapon and make his way to the sighting Coco had pointed out for him a few blocks away.

Fox's boot crashed into the skull of the first Beowolf that attacked him. As the creature crumbled backwards he threw himself up into the air vertically, getting a high vantage point over the battlefield. From where he reached the apex of his flight, he saw that the once imposing sea of black and white had dwindled significantly, and that they were on the home stretch. The tail of one of the last, if not the last, Deathstalker terrorising the village flew through the air to come and meet him mid fall. He rolled his body backwards in the air, letting the sharp golden stinger whiz past him as he descended back to the ground. CFVYN's brawler let the Scorpion Grimm retract its tail and go for another crushing attack on him, and with a simple hop backwards the golden spike ploughed itself firmly into the ground. Spying the perfect opportunity, Fox fired shots right at the joint on the tail breaking the golden end off with a painful cry of agony from the Grimm, its now severed and significantly blunter tail swinging around wildly, even hitting a few other Grimm as it did so.

The thumping of something on the ground caught the ex-blind man's attention. A Beringel was chasing down Velvet, who was dodging every attack thrown at her by the oversized Gorilla, albeit barely on more than one occasion. Fox could tell by the way it was attacking her that it was a juvenile, so its strikes were much less coordinated than an experienced one of its kind would be.

Fox saw an opportunity for both himself and Velvet to be rid of their respective troublesome Grimm.

"Velvet!" he called. Dodging the lunging attack the Beringel intended for her, its giant fists smashing into the ground and breaking apart the concrete beneath them, the Faunus turned to her teammate to see what he was calling her name for. "Two for one?"

"Right!"

"Get it over here, try and make it attack you and slam onto the Deathstalker." Fox ran towards the stinger in the ground as Velvet made a beeline for the Deathstalker, Beringel hot on her tail. With it gaining ground fast she knew that this was a one shot opportunity, one she reckoned she wouldn't be getting as she spotted the shadow rising up to slam down once again on her before she was even halfway across the distance.

It was times like this that the Faunus was thankful they had a teleporter on their team.

"Thanks Neo," Velvet sighed in relief after the sudden snap in, snap out move the mute just pulled to stop the Rabbit becoming a crimson pancake on the floor, "I owe you a favour when we're done." The ice cream woman grinned, ready to tap a button and get an automated message to the chocolate brown eyed woman. " _Not_ a sexual favour; I know how your mind works." The grin faded; she was caught.

With Neo promptly shattering, Velvet continued running towards the recovering Scorpion monster as Fox managed to dislodge the tail from the ground and now held the awkwardly shaped object in his arms.

Catching up once again, the Beringel jumped at Velvet, aiming to smash her once and for all. But she had other ideas, having made it to the recovering Deathstalker and positioned itself on its back. As the Gorilla leapt in the air, Fox ran in and jumped as well, throwing the stinger up to Velvet who also jumped, flying over the Beringel's trajectory.

The Gorilla Grimm smashed its bony fists down, crushing its Scorpion brethren. Fox and Velvet met in the air, halting each other's forward momentum. The stinger positioned itself at the perfect position and angle for the rest of their plan to work, with Fox firing with his gauntlets to shoot himself and his Faunus teammate down to the ground at speed, their four feet colliding with the severed end of the golden barb and driving the business end into, and straight through, the exposed skin of the Beringel's neck. Only a few seconds had passed, but that time was more than enough to win their battle.

"Get down!" shouted another familiar voice, Fox and Velvet complying as Coco rained hell upon the approaching wave of Grimm around them. When the barrels stopped smoking and whirring, she retracted her weapon and breathed a sigh of relief.

[" **Looks like that is all of them.** "]

"I am never going to get used to hearing that damn thing," Coco commented, referring to the mechanical voice of Neo's headset, "it's… not you."

{" _It never will be,_ "} she signed. A grunt came from behind a nearby building and three Beowolves came flying out from behind it, two dissolving before they came close to hitting anything else, the third not so lucky, and Yatsuhashi strode into view with his weapon over his shoulder.

"I've taken out the last of them my way. I assume that means we're done?" Coco nodded, taking off back towards where they had been sending all the civilians of Ventos so they could fight without having to worry about them getting hurt or worse.

"... Not even a 'good job'?" Fox mentioned at the unusual behaviour of his leader, "is something wrong with her Velvet?"

"I think so. She's probably just tired; I'll go check." The truth was, Velvet knew why she did that. As did Yatsuhashi. Fox knew part of the reason, but not the whole story. The only person on the team left completely in the dark was Neo, and that was exactly how they wanted it to go.

* * *

~ _Fox.~_

"Yeah?"

~ _Why are we here?_ ~ The team had been dropped off far from where Neo had been expecting to be right now. The plan, as far as she was aware, was to get to the council in Mistral and inform them of their mission's completion so that they could be paid as soon as, then to head home, relax for a day, then find another mission for them to keep themselves occupied for a little while longer.

She most certainly was not expecting to be jumping off the Bullhead to be greeted by the Mistral Hospital.

"I don't know." Neo had been in a relationship with Fox for long enough now to know exactly when he was lying or withholding the truth from her - now being one such occasion - so she tried again.

~ _Fox.~_

"Yes Neo?"

~ _Why. Are. We. Here? And I am_ _ **not**_ _taking "I don't know" for an answer, because I know that you know the reason. So, spill.~_

"I… uhh…"

"Alright, enough," the beret wearing leader ordered, saving Fox from having to bullshit an answer that he'd have to explain away later. "We're here because someone needed to check up on you."

{" _And we couldn't have gone to Vale Hospital for this because…?_ "}

"Because we're here now, and this may be a little bit time sensitive." Coco continued heading to the hospital, now at an advanced pace. Everyone else followed, although Neo was still questioning everything about this whole thing. That was, until they got inside and saw:

"Hey guys, about time you showed up. A certain someone was a little restless on the way here, even through nap time." The small woman let her eyes flick to dual brown in confusion as she saw the Arctic Fox Faunus get up from her chair in the reception area of the Mistral Hospital, baby Clementine in a little grey carrier.

"Aww~! Were you causing Auntie Maggie grief~?" The child smiled when she saw her mothers' faces and heard her Mommy's voice, extending her arms out to greet them.

"Do you want a cuddle Clemmie Clem~? You _do~?_ Come 'ere." The child's Mama reached down and pulled the baby out of her carrier, her clean cream and white coloured outfit starkly contrasting against the dirtied earthier colours her parents were sporting.

"How was she otherwise?" Velvet asked as Coco cradled their growing child.

"An angel; it's scary to think that she's your offspring." Both parents resented that statement, saying "Hey!" in chorus at their fair haired friend.

"To be fair, she does have trace amounts of my DNA in there, so that's why she's probably so peaceful." All three women looked at the team giant with scepticism. He just shrugged at that. Maggie's glaring was interrupted when her Scroll buzzed in her coat pocket.

**Neo:  
_Mind explaining to me why you're here, because I feel like I'm the only one of us out of the loop._**

When the Faunus glanced up at the ice cream woman, her arms were folded, and her facial expression just screamed impatience.

"Alright, if you _must_ know." Neo simply made an expression that said, 'You're kidding, right?', prompting Maggie to skip to the point. "There's a doctor here called Doctor Otum. I wanted you to speak with him, he's an expert in his field."

**Neo:  
_Why can't I see a doctor back in Vale? Why do I even need to be here at all? Doctors, Hospitals and I don't mix well anymore. I don't want us to._**

"I'm giving you a chance!" she nearly cried out, but restrained herself at the last second. Still, the raised voice turned a few heads. Understandably confused at the sudden outburst of emotions, Neo was in the process of typing when a man walked into the reception calling her name. Making her way over, the man - a normal human as far as she could see with deep blue eyes and mousy brown hair - smiled as she approached.

"Are you Mrs. Alistair?" She nodded, also signing her response. His apologetic smile told her what his words were about to.

"I'm afraid I do not know much Sign Language, so that medium of communication is null and void to me. But I knew that anyway; Miss Frio and I have been talking to one another for the past couple of months about you." Naturally, Neo shot a quizzical look at her best friend, trying to determine why she would be talking to some stranger, a _doctor_ no less, about her for months on end. "Now, let's take this somewhere a little more private. I'd like Miss Frio to accompany me, and Mr. Alistair is welcome to join us as well if you would like him to." Without even thinking on it, Neo nodded and reached back for Fox to walk up and take her hand, Maggie following closely behind.

"Good luck," Velvet called behind them, earning a smile from the Arctic Fox Faunus.

"Now," the doctor asked as the two women sat down, Fox standing behind his wife with his hands on her shoulders, their wedding rings adorning their fingers once more - they both take them off during mission for fear of snagging, as do Velvet and Coco, "how much has Miss Frio told you of why you're here prior to what we're doing now?"

"She only told me that we were coming here," Fox mentioned off-handedly, "not the exact reasons why. As for Neo, I'm pretty sure based on her reactions before coming in, she was told nothing. … Yeah, she said she was told nothing."

"Interesting. Why would that be, Miss Frio? Is it because of the reasons you explained to me before?" She nodded, paying laser precision focus to him when he spoke and then anything else on the right side of the room when he wasn't. Basically, she felt guilty about not telling Neo anything, and as such was avoiding eye contact with her altogether. "Well, I shall explain. I specialise in a very specific field, which is why your friend here must have approached me as she did. She explained your situation as best as she could initially, going only off of the information she had been told by you."

Neo noticed the minute shifts in his posture ever since they got into the room. This man hardly moved at all, not worrying about waving his arms around to emphasise points and instead sitting with his fingers clasped together, elbows resting on his thighs. When he leaned in after what he had just said, Neo naturally felt like this was important because of how he had presented himself beforehand, so she paid closer attention, and she was impressed; not many people could make her feel comfortable and confident that she could speak with them in such a short space of time.

"I am a surgeon, specialising specifically in transplants. Maggie here contacted me and explained how you and your husband tried to have children but couldn't due to your lack of a healthy and properly functioning uterus, correct?" The mute looked at her friend with a sense of betrayal - she really didn't want this to be public information, even to a doctor. There was a small part of her that regretted telling the Faunus they failed to conceive. Equally, that would have been a pointless effort; Maggie knew that they'd tried for kids when in Vacuo, she even bet on it.

Doctor Otum was looking for an answer from her, seeing whether she would respond. Even when she didn't, her silence was telling enough, and he continued on as if she had answered. "There is a procedure - it's not very common and has admittedly had a minimal success rate, but still we can hope - where the uterus and other necessary parts are removed from a donor and transplanted into the recipient's body. Your body, Orchid, if you say yes." The mute woman rose to her feet in a panic, heading straight out the door. Fox was hot on her heels, planting his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"Neo, it's alright. You're alright. Everything's going to be okay." The woman struggled to swallow, the air suddenly thick and horrible to try and consume. Everything inside her head was swimming around, bumping into the sides and causing her head to ache.

 _Breathe, Neo,_ she told herself, _breathe._ In. Out. In. Out. Her erratic breathing had calmed down a lot, and by this point she was thinking with a much clearer head than minutes ago.

"What're you thinking?" Fox asked.

~ _… Surgery… I've… never really considered that…_ ~

"Exactly. We might be able to have a shot at family."

~ _I don't know, it seems… weird. Having part of someone else inside of me.~_

~ _So you hated all the sex then?_ ~ he quipped. She shot him a glare, but it faded instantly when she realised that he made a somewhat valid point. "If we go through with this and everything goes well, you'll have something _growing_ inside of you; you can't escape that."

~ _I know,_ ~ she admitted, ~ _it's just the part beforehand that worries me most.~_

"The sex?"

~ _Not the sex, you idiot. I'm looking forward to that again.~_

"Aww, I _do_ matter," he joked. A knock on the head brought him away from his joking demeanour, bringing about only discomfort.

~ _The surgery is what I'm worried about._ ~ Fox mumbled a "figures" under his breath as Neo continued on. ~ _What if things go wrong? What if this fails completely and destroys everything, including any future chances of trying to have kids?~_

"I understand what you're saying and see what you're concerned about. But, truth be told, we haven't even said 'yes' yet. You're creating problems before anything's even happened, making your decision even harder to make because of all those self-imposed hurdles you have to jump over. Make the decision based on what you want to do, then we'll cross whatever bridges we need to. And we'll do it together." He reached down and clasped their hands together. "Sound good?"

~ _Sounds grand. Have I ever told you that you always know exactly what to say to make everything seem alright?~_

"Once or twice." Her nerves steeled, they re-entered the room, Doctor Otum and Maggie having not really moved since the pair of them left.

"Is everything alright Mrs Alistair?" The tri coloured woman's eyes swapped to dual pink as she looked at Fox, smiling as her head came back to look at Doctor Otum, and she nodded. "Excellent. So, I was going to ask you-"

"She says yes," Fox interrupted. The doctor looked at him with scepticism, then let his eyes drift down to Neo, who at this point had sat back in her chair, and was surprised to see that she was nodding in agreement with her husband.

"Very well then. I shall explain the plan then. We'll get you into surgery and sedate you; it'll be a highly potent strain of anaesthetics we'll use not only because of the type of surgery we're performing but also because of your status as a Huntress - the normal gases we use on civilians only work on Huntsmen when they're in a weakened state, something you most certainly are not. Anyway, once you're under we'll take the healthy uterus out and put it in you, then seal you up. It won't be an immediate thing where you can rush off and try there and then, there will be a period where we need to wait and see whether your body accepts or rejects the new part. You'll be on immunosuppressive medication for this time, just so your body doesn't full on reject it immediately; we still want to give you your chance at a family."

"… She's asking what'll happen if her body rejects the part?"

"Well, in the simplest of terms, that's that. If this doesn't work, I wouldn't want to risk your life trying to find another willing donor and attempting the procedure again. But that's only _if_ it is rejected, there's a 1 in 6 chance of that happening to you." She nodded, understanding what was said and heavily focussing on the word 'if'; there wasn't a guarantee this would go pear shaped, so she'll take that as a win. "We'll know if everything's alright if you start a menstrual cycle, something I presume you've never had to deal with before."

~ _Is that the thing Coco and Velvet had happen every month where they'd feel like shit and want to do nothing but eat or kill someone?~_

~ _Basically, yeah.~_

~ _Oh joy,_ ~ came the sarcastic reply, shaking her head.

"Well, I'm sure your team can help you with that. I'd need three successful menstrual cycles before I can give you the all clear to try and conceive. When that's all done and the baby is coming, we'd need to birth them via caesarean for its and for your own safety. Once you're satisfied with everything and after the successful pregnancy or two, we'll perform a hysterectomy to take the transplanted uterus out and to stop you from being on those immunosuppressants for the rest of your life. Does everything make sense?"

~ _Yeah, it does,_ ~ she thought, raising her thumb up as a clear sign on her being onboard with it all.

"Fantastic. Now, I'll need you two to remain at the hospital for 48 hours before the operation so that we can keep you both on a very strict diet to minimise potential hiccups or obstructions during the surgery. Now-"

"Wait, why do I have to stay?" Fox inquired for both himself and his wife, "last time I checked, I don't have a uterus to give."

"I am aware of that fact, Mr. Alistair," Doctor Otum laughed, "neither do I. But we aren't the only three in the room." It dawned on them both at the same time what he meant by that, both their heads turning to look at Maggie, soon to be Neo's uterus donor, who finally made eye contact with her again.


	18. Learnin' 'em Proper

_You are kidding, right?_ she thought. Unfortunately for her, there was no hint at a practical joke anywhere in the doctor's expressions, this was a genuine proposition. The Faunus woman's face locked eyes with her ice cream loving friend, and as pink and brown gazed into carolina blue she could see the conviction behind them, and the reality that what the doctor had hinted at in dialogue was indeed fact.

{" _Mags?_ "}

The Faunus understood very little Sign Language, and knew how to sign even less than that, but she knew what her own name looked like. The confused look on Neo's face conveyed the emotion behind the question she was ultimately posing, and that hurt the fair haired woman more than she realised it would.

"Miss Frio here has been in contact with me for months as previously mentioned," Doctor Otum explained, getting up to stand by her side, "and in that time she expressed the greatest interest of becoming your donor should you have chosen to go forward with this procedure."

Neo held up her Scroll; written on it was the simple question: **Why?**

"Neo, please… don't-" The Scroll was waved in front of her again.

**Why?**

"Mrs. Alistair, let Maggie explain in her own-"

**Why?**

"Because you mean too much to me!" she shouted. The confession bounced off the walls, reverberating around the four of them in the room like waves of energy. "You _all_ mean so much to me." By this point she was in tears. "Mom and Dad are gone now, so I don't have anyone else. You all are the closest thing I have to a family now. You, Fox, Coco and Velvet, Yatsuhashi, little Clementine; all of you are my rock now. I would do anything for you, and if that means giving up my ability to have children, that's fine."

**But why Mags? What about you and having children of your own?**

**It's not like this process seems irreversible, can't we swap them back after we're done?**

"If I may?" Doctor Otum asked, earning a small nod from Neo. "The process is reversible, sure, but doing so comes at a great risk to Miss Frio's life. Taking part of her out, giving it to someone else, then returning it back to her introduces more risks than I dare to mention; most notably, the fact that the uterus - whilst not being capable of 100% acclimation to the new body - would no longer be familiarised with the body of its original owner. As such, returning it to where it first came from would be the equivalent of taking a brand new uterus and putting it inside her, only with a significantly higher risk of infections. I would be unwilling to perform such a task."

**You know what this means, right Mags? If we do this and it doesn't work, neither of us can ever have children of our own.**

Reading what her friend had written, she sighed, lowering the Scroll in her hand.

"I know…"

**Then why are you doing this?! Why aren't you trying to find someone to settle down with, have your own family before trying to fix ours?**

The Faunus finally turned fully to speak with her, holding both of her hands in her own. "Neo, I've tried for so long. Nothing came of anything I did, of anyone I saw. Duke was the only exception to that rule, and I finally thought that I could live a life with someone. Then he up and went, and reality came crashing down around me." With a soft smile, one that Neo often told her was as soft as her tail was, she elaborated by admitting, "life doesn't seem to want to give me a happy ending. You were probably the closest thing I was going to get, even looking back on those years I had with Duke it never felt as complete as we did. I've told you this before, but you had your life set out for you since you two first met. If letting my idea of a 'happily ever after' go means that you can have yours, I'd do it. I _will_ do it." Reflexively, she reached up with her left hand and stroked her cheek. "Please."

"Maggie, I…" he wanted to say something more in depth, but words seemed to be failing him at the moment, so Fox settled on giving her shoulder a slight squeeze and uttering "thank you." Showing her own gratitude towards the gesture, she leaned her head towards his hand, resting it on the back of his hand.

**I wish to go through with this, and I am happy for Maggie to be my uterus donor.**

Doctor Otum smiled sincerely at the acceptance.

"Marvellous. When did you want to have the operation done?"

"… She wants to know when the earliest slot you have for it is," the scarred Huntsman relayed on behalf of his wife.

"It would be in three days' time." Neo's eager grin at hearing that got a small laugh from the doctor. "I take it you are fond of the idea?" She nodded. "Good. Do you all live in Vale as Miss Frio does?"

"We do, but we're here for a mission; one we've just finished actually, so we're technically on wind down time."

"And are you and the rest of your team residing in Mistral for the time being?"

"We are."

"Excellent," he declared as he stood from his chair, "then let's not waste any more time in here, we must inform your team."

* * *

"Is that your child?" a random woman asked of Velvet as she sat opposite the Faunus in the waiting room, trying to make idle conversation to break up the vast silence that most people embraced and sat waiting for a doctor or nurse to see them. She was much older than any of the team present, and at least 100 times older than Clementine at eight and a half months old, going by her silver hair and wrinkled face.

"Yes she is. She's eight and a half months old."

"That's lovely dear. She's… um… _just_ like you, is she?" The question itself was cause for concern, but the way in which it was said raised more than just Velvet's eyebrows on the team; though the others stayed out of it (for now) they were keeping an eye on her to see how this conversation went.

"And what do you mean by 'Just like me'?"

"Well… a Faunus, dear. Or had you not noticed your ears?"

Velvet scoffed at that remark. "Of course I noticed. Even if I hadn't, I'm sure the bullies would have told me soon enough."

"A lovely young lady such as yourself being bullied? Whatever for?"

~ _She's kidding, right?_ ~ the Faunus thought to herself. But going off the expression the lady wore, she was being deadly serious. "For my heritage, even at Beacon, even as a Huntress. 'You don't belong here.' 'You are an abomination.' 'Why do I have this animal protecting me? I'd rather perish', that one sticks out with me." Each example the woman listed off brought forth a new wave of irritation.

"Sorry, I'm not too well versed in the here and now. Back when I was much younger, the Faunus were treated with such disrespect it was nauseating, even for a young girl like me who admittedly took part in it all. But you say you're a Huntress? That's lovely."

_Annoyance._

_Yeah, I feel the same way too Coco._

"How were you dealing with your pregnancy, what with being a Huntress? Did your husband stay with you?"

 _Oh, this'll be fun._ Coco thought the same thing too, having heard what was said and as a wave of _Playfulness_ flooded through Velvet via her Mark.

"Actually, I don't have a husband."

"Oh my, your consummated out of wedlock?!"

"In this day and age, who _hasn't?_ " The look of unease in the woman's eyes made this all the more worth it. "But no, I _am_ married, happily so. I'd like you to meet them actually. Say hello to my wife, Coco Scarlatina, formally Adel."

"Hi," Coco smiled, "I see you're getting along quite well with my husband here." Both Huntresses saw themselves as wife to one another, but in situations like this Coco, being the one who carried their child around inside her, was designated wife and Velvet by extension was designated husband.

The old woman sat there mystified, trying to piece it all together before saying anything. "I am happy for you," she finally managed, "but I am a little confused as to how you both had a child. You're both-"

"Very observant of you madam," Coco chastised without a single hint of sarcasm, despite the comment she made being laced with it, "yes, both of us are women, with the same body parts as any other woman. But there are things called sperm donors, and we used one to create our little girl. We also combined that with a little bit of science so that we could have a child that was as close to 100% genetically ours as it could possibly be given the circumstances. As it stands, I'll take the healthy 49.5% split with Velvet here, and we can thank our teammate, Yatsuhashi, here for that outlying 1%." The woman turned her attention to the man the former Adel gestured towards. As most people were, she was immediately intimidated by the hulk of a man based solely on appearance.

"Coco and I," Velvet stated very bluntly as she looked straight into the eyes of the woman sat opposite, "love each other with all our hearts. Enough to not only be married, but Mated too."

"Wha-"

"It's a Faunus thing," she butt in. "With our daughter here, our lives are complete. We love it this way and would quite like to continue on with it without the constant 20 Questions bombardment we get nearly every time we go out as a family." A doctor called out for a 'Mrs. Moss' and she looked off, clearly meant for her. With one final glance towards the couple, Coco waved at her whilst mouthing the word 'bye' as she headed out to do what she came here to do.

As the woman and the doctor that called her headed down the corridor, Fox, Neo, Maggie and the doctor they were seeing returned.

"You two look like you were having fun."

"Nah, just someone unsure of how modern society works. She seemed nice enough, just a little bit uneducated in those regards."

"She also used me as a means of intimidation again," Yatsuhashi offhandedly commented.

"I would do no such thing!"

"To be fair, you-"

"Don't you dare, Alistair!" Despite starting off with a stern look, Coco could never keep a straight face for long once she'd used the 'Don't you dare, Alistair' line; it was such a beautiful bit of coincidental rhyming that worked so well every time she used it, and she rarely used it on purpose.

"Before my wife decides to go off on one _again_ , how did everything go doctor?"

"Very well, thank you. How much do you know?"

"Only the reason they were coming here, nothing more."

"In that case; your friends and teammates came to a decision. The proposition was for Mrs. Alistair to undergo surgery to give her a healthy and working womb from somebody else so that she may give birth at some point in the semi-near future. After weighing it up, she has decided that she wishes to go through with the surgery…"

"That's great news Neo, we're so proud of-"

"…with Miss Frio here as the donor."

"-you… huh?" CVY all stared at Maggie, who seemed almost ashamed of what was said. "Maggie?"

"She deserves a happy ending after such a poor start. I just wanted to do that for her." Coco and Velvet looked between one another, then wordlessly crossed the distance and cocooned the Arctic Fox Faunus in a loving embrace.

"I'm sure she'd tell you this sooner or later, but you don't know what this means to her." The bushy tailed Faunus chuckled/sniffled a quiet, "I think I do" into the taller of the two women's shoulder before they released the hug and thanked her from the bottom of their hearts.

"If we want to get the surgery done straight away, which in all honesty is the best way to do this, then we'll need to take the two of them away as soon as possible. When would be the best time to do that?"

"First thing tomorrow," Coco explained, "we've literally just come off a ten day mission around the Sirocco Region, so we're all sweaty and horrible in need of a decent night's sleep in a proper bed." The doctor let out a small laugh, a sign to the team leader that he wasn't a 'strictly business' kind of guy, but a much more down to earth one, and that already put her mind at ease.

"I understand, it's best that they come in here with clear heads anyway, and we don't exactly want to have them waiting in these beds for longer than necessary. All I ask is for them to be properly rested and to avoid sugary drinks and foods, then we may even get a chance to perform sooner if the surgery clears up. For now, I'll bid you farewell, and I will see you two back here again bright and early tomorrow." Doctor Otum offered a round of goodbyes to everyone before he turned around and returned down the corridor once more, the automatic doors halfway down shutting behind him.

"I like him," Coco mentioned once he was out of earshot.

"You're married to _me,_ " Velvet deadpanned back as she picked up Clementine's carrier.

With a smirk, the fashionista leaned in and pecked her wife on the cheek, muttering a simple "Yes I am" as she slipped her hand into Velvet's free one to head back to the Bullheads. Yatsuhashi followed close behind them, and Fox jogged up to be with him after Neo requested that she and Maggie had a little talk to themselves at the rear of them all.

**I still can't believe you're doing this for me. Thank you x**

"Don't worry about it. You're my best friend, and the closest thing I'd ever consider as family since Mom and Dad. I would do anything to make you happy." Neo raised an eyebrow as a sly grin grew on her face. "Stop it." The mute mouthed the word 'What?', deliberately ignorant of what she had done to earn a response as she did. Maggie, in response and protest, simply started walking away.

The Faunus didn't get very far, as Neo ran up behind her and jumped on her back, clinging to her like a tri coloured limpet.

"Fox," she called, "your _older_ and supposedly _more mature_ wife has digressed; help."

"No can do, once she's like that she's stuck until she's bored. And she doesn't really get bored easily." Ensuring Coco and Velvet were well out of earshot, especially Velvet with her enhanced hearing, Maggie glared at the small woman grinning on her back, calling her a slew of unsavoury names as they all made their way back to the place they were staying.


	19. Attractive Opposites

Yang like mornings. Heck, she _loved_ mornings. Anyone who looked at her whilst she was at Beacon - and she was fully aware, a _lot_ of people were looking at her at Beacon - would have seen a happy-go-lucky blonde with an amazing body and a love for going out clubbing, so immediately their thoughts on the subject matter would go "She loves to party, so she must hate mornings".

On the contrary, not only did Yang boast the fourth highest entry score in her year at Beacon and maintained a consistently positive grade record through all four years – particularly excelling in combat like her father before her, so she was told – Yang only went to clubs when she was wanting information on someone, and she was a morning person through and through. She chalked it up to those years that she was looking after Ruby almost on her own, waking up first to make sure she got up for school.

She detested it at first, but over time she saw just what a nice feeling could come of a pre-dawn rise. After the incident with the trolley and Grimm that Qrow saved them from, Yang used the mornings where she used to look for her mother Raven and instead started going for runs. Small ones at first, but eventually they grew longer and longer, and she grew faster and stronger as she went.

It was what truly started her out on her journey to be a Huntress, the second catalyst as it were, but the first of her own choosing. The initial one was of course hearing stories of Team STRQ and what the members did in their time before settling down, and her resolve to become just like her Uncle Qrow, her Dad and her Mom - both the one that birthed her and the one that raised her.

Even now that she was in her mid-twenties and no longer looking out for her little sister, she never broke that habit. But in all truth, she didn't like to think about why she liked mornings because it stemmed from sadness.

Now, compare her with Blake, and you have someone who is the polar opposite.

Blake was never one for mornings. If she could, and she has on more than one occasion back at Beacon, back in the White Fang, even as far back as at home with her parents, she would spend the night sitting in bed just reading a story (or two), her Faunus attributes helping her see in the darkness that she read in. It's where her love of books came from and to this day that love has never dwindled.

Books were Blake's means of escaping from the world in which she lived. When everything around her was going wrong in so many more ways than she dared to even count, stealing herself away with a hardback - and if she was so lucky, a cup of tea - and reading through the world that that the author had created; and in those moments, they seemed to be created just for her.

But it was because of those nights spent reading that her loathing of the morning came from. Morning rays meant that the night was over, and that she needed to reinsert herself into the drag that was real life. No longer was she an undead magician with no skin, no longer did she ride around on the back of dragons and slay all those who were set to betray her, no longer was she a master of stealth and passion (though her Mate would attest otherwise to that statement), she was just a Faunus in the real world. And that shift was never one Blake enjoyed. Morning's also meant no sleep, and sleeping was good.

Pair these two together and you'd think that they couldn't be more opposite; you'd be right too. An early bird and a night owl. Two sides of the same coin. The woman whose smile and hair glowed brighter than the Sun, and the woman who chose to seek the company of moonlight and shadows. The Yin and the literal Yang.

Now that the pair had Mated, they didn't completely balance out one another's love for the time of day, but they certainly helped make it easier. At times, Yang would remain awake long into the dead of night, following the story of the most recent book that her beautiful onyx haired partner bought for her (admittedly she needed a reading light), and even Blake could be up before Yang to make them something quick and full of energy before their run.

This time, they both managed to stir at roughly the same time just as the first rays were peeking over the horizon, neither light nor dark outside. It was the perfect start to their day, encapsulating their relationship to a T - the perfect balance between the light and the dark.

"Morning, my Sunshine," Blake groaned as she stretched herself, still staying in bed and flipping over to look at her partner as she woke up too.

"And good mornin' to you, Starlight."

"Ooh, _someone_ is happy to be awake this morning. Is it for any special occasion that I'm unaware of?"

_Playful._

"Like I could ever hide anything from you babe."

"I'd say the same, but-"

_Mischief._

"You hide it in the cabinet, in that special compartment that can only be opened with the key hidden in the main coffee table's own secret draw, the one that requires that little key on your pendant that you insisted was just a decorative piece." Blake's face went through the full spectrum of reds as Yang went through every little detail of her meticulously planned hiding spot for her special stash; currently, she was sporting a very prominent 'beetroot' colour.

"Bitch," she grumbled.

"Pussy," her Mate retorted. Blake groaned again, grabbing her pillow and smashing it over her own face, muffling her voice to near inaudibility.

"I walked right into that one…" she said. Yang deduced what Blake had said, even though she barely made any of the words out through the feathers in the pillow. Whilst the blonde giggled at how easy it was to rile her Mate up, she did love her through thick and thin.

"You did. But I mean no harm or disrespect when I say it; I still love you."

"I love you too Yang." By this point, the Faunus had removed the pillow from her face and was smiling back at her lilac eyed partner, so when she mentioned how much she loved her, she quite happily leaned up and initiated the kiss. "How did you figure it out?"

"Blake, it's very obvious when you have a terrible day; seeing you come in all mentally beaten breaks me, and when you tell me to leave you alone is like grinding the broken pieces into a fine dust. You wander around the house looking grumpy, you've even tried attacking me on a couple of occasions."

"I haven't!... Have I?"

"Nah, I'm just teasing." The bookworm huffed, but the brawler only hugged her closer. "You did certainly _look_ like you would though, so… Anyway, you wander around with your pendant, then once you've gotten to the table you shoot upstairs and I don't see you for a few minutes. Then all of a sudden you spray me, then I'm the most interesting thing in the world."

"I'm sorry Yang… I just-"

"Need to take the edge off, I agree. I don't really condone what you do, y'know - catnip just brings out the animal side in you, and that's not who I fell in love with."

"When you fell in love with me," she pointed out, "and when we became Mates, you fell in love with and Mated _all_ of me, even this side."

"I did," she sighed. "I just wish we could talk it out instead of you using that spray on me."

"I can't promise I won't do it."

"Okay, then promise me something else then."

The cat smirked. "Name your terms."

"From now on, _I_ have the pendant key." The smirk vanished instantly from the Faunus face, swapping onto the blonde's face instead.

"Why would I agree to that? What if you're not around?"

"I guess you'll have to suffer in silence, or; Talk. It. Out." With each of those last words, she leaned in and planted a quick kiss on her Mate's lips, the final one being held for a little longer to really nail home her point.

"Will that make you happier if I did that?"

"Blake, not only do I need, like, three separate showers to rid myself of the smell, but do you know what catnip does to my hair if I don't?"

"No…" she admitted, sounding slightly worried at the fact. Yang's hair may be the one and only thing on Remnant that could threaten Blake's position as "Person or Thing Loved Most by Yang Xiao Long", so if something bad happened to it, at least a city block would know. Yang shifted herself to a more comfortable sitting position.

"Okay, the first time you used that stuff on me, d'you remember that?"

"How could I forget? It was the night I ran into Ilia again after all these years."

"Yeah, well after your whole clingy bit and we dozed off with you feeling secure, I went to shower the next morning and my hair was lime green in places." Amber eyes widened in fear; she messed up Yang's hair and she'd never said anything about it before. "I was livid beyond almost all comprehension, you messed up my hair Blakey. I couldn't get my red eyes away; I was permanently angry. Most people find themselves in a hospital if they try to even touch my hair." The onyx haired woman shrunk back slightly, wanting to speak but not wanting to reignite that fire. "But d'you know what happened?" A frightened head shake was the only answer Yang got. "I came back into the room, ready to scream and shout at you for ruining my hair, and I saw you lying there with the most peaceful smile on your face. I remembered why you came in and did whatever you did, I wasn't sure what it was at the time, and I recalled how bad you were the night before. It wasn't a malicious action, just a selfish one that had an unintended side effect." The bookworm tried to shy away, but Yang cupped her chin gently and turned her head back, though she still refused to lock eyes with her.

"Blake?" Feeling her partner staring at her, the Faunus let her eyes wander back, locking on to the pools of lilac she'd grown to adore as much as the woman attached to them. "You are one of four people I have _ever_ let touch my hair - Summer, Dad and Ruby are one through three on that list. I realised that you meant no harm, so I shouldn't cause you any harm. I simply washed my hair over and over until I got it all out, then vowed to never let this stuff sit in there ever again.

"So what I'm saying is yeah, I'd make me happier." The Faunus offered a weak smile.

"Okay, I can do that."

"Good, 'cause I already swiped the pendant." For proof, she grabbed the silver chain off her bedside table and held it so her Mate could see.

"Of course you did," she replied, not even trying to take it back from her and flopping back down onto her pillow.

"Hey, no frowny faces missy! Tell ya what, I'll make it up to you today."

"Why?" she inquired, her feline ears perking up slightly and their mark glowing as Yang felt a wave of _Curiosity_ and _Contentment,_ even though her face was trying to remain neutral.

"Well, 'cause I scared you. I probably made you feel like I was going to hurt you or something, so I'm gonna make it up to you today."

"Really? How so?" she teased, wanting to see where this would go.

"Well…"

**_*bzzzt*_ **

**_*bzzzt*_ **

**_*bzzzt*_ **

Both women gazed back to the set of drawers on the far side of the room and saw Yang's Scroll screen lighting up. "Motherfucker…" she cursed.

"You said your Dad was never up this early," Blake quipped.

"… Good one, Belladonna."

"I learnt from the best." Yang grinned as she reluctantly removed herself from the warmth that was her bed sheets, walking over to her Scroll. Blake found herself staring _again;_ she'd lived with and been in a relationship with Yang for long enough now to be intimately equated with every nook and cranny of the woman's body, but the sight of her partner walking away in her short pyjama shorts always made her cheeks flush.

The blonde had to admit, seeing the image of her sister on the screen was not something she was expecting. She walked over to the bed again with her trademark grin, starting the call on her way.

"Well good morrow to you, dear _schwester_. I never would have thought I'd see you up this early."

* _Yang, please don't butcher my native tongue,_ * came a voice from behind the brunette on screen.

"Ah, _meine schwägerin!_ How are you?"

* _…Okay, how do you know what 'sister-in-law' even is in Atlesian?_ *

"Yoo-hoo," came Blake's voice. Yang plonked herself back on the bed next to her Mate so that they could both be seen.

* _How could I forget? Thanks Blake. I swear, you two pick up more and more of each other's traits as the days go on._ *

"What, is the prospect of two Blake's terrifying for you, Miss Schnee?"

* _No,_ _ **that's**_ _fine. I could live with that. What I can't, and outright refuse to live with, is two of_ _ **you**_ _._ *

"Please, I'm great! Aren't I Rubbles?"

* _Just once,_ * their leader groaned, * _I'd like to be able to call Yang or Blake without you two bickering for hours on end. Is that too much to ask?_ * The older of the two in each of the couples promptly remained quiet once their leader had expressed a distaste of their argument. * _Thank you._ *

"Thank _you,_ " Blake parroted back, "I feel the same way a lot of the time, but only you really have the authority to shut them both up."

* _You say that, but Yang's told me aaaall about your little games,_ _"Frau Nachtschatten"_ _._ * Being engaged (and less than two weeks away from actually being married) to Weiss, Ruby felt it was both appropriate and proper to dedicate some time learning the Atlesian language, seeing as how it was Weiss' native language even though she used it so sparingly you'd be mistaken for thinking that she didn't know a word of it.

In the final term of their Third Year at Beacon and for the first month or two of their Fourth Year, the caped leader was learning very basic Atlesian in her spare time and in secret. When the time came to advance to more complicated vocabulary and phrasings, and becoming conversational in general, she asked Weiss in person, and in Atlesian. Ruby had rarely seen Weiss cry, and she seldom saw her tear up in joy, so bringing her then-girlfriend to tears over something that seemed so trivial was equal parts amazing and worrying. Weiss ensured her that there was no need to be worried, she did everything perfectly.

Being the prodigy she was - she had to have been to not only get into Beacon two years earlier, but to also lead her own team through the hardships of their time there and out the other end as A Tier material - picking up the language to a conversational level came almost as second nature. By the time Fox and Neo, and by extension Coco and Velvet, got married in the Spring she was completely fluent in it, save the odd blip here and there.

And, being fluent, it meant she could tease her sister and her Mate no end in Atlesian, especially when they both did the same thing eventually and learnt the language.

The feline Faunus glared at her partner next to her, understanding fully what the crimsonette on the other line had just said and the meaning behind the name, but said nothing about it. If she was being completely honest, the silence worried Yang the most about it all - surprisingly, the fact that their roleplay name had come back full circle was not the biggest worry for her.

"Mind explaining why you called?" Blake asked abruptly, bringing the conversation far away from anything to do with anything related to them. "I _was_ enjoying sleep and my personal space heater."

* _Oh yeah, sorry,_ * the leader apologised. * _Neo just posted something; you should take a read before I explain further._ *

"No offense sis, but couldn't this have waited until later?"

* _Yang, we all know that there's a time difference between where we are right now and where you are; this was the best we could do. Besides, it's inconvenient for us as well, it's already nearly midnight here and_ _ **someone**_ _has got to get their dress sorted tomorrow. Not that I know that, of course._ * Weiss commented, giving Ruby a brief side-eye at the last comment, earning the snow haired woman a small smack on the shoulder.

* _I have it under control._ *

"Sure Rubes. So, you want us to read what Neo's uploaded."

* _Uh huh._ *

"Question: why?"

* _Just read it, please._ *

"Why, are you two in need of a bedtime story?"

* _Don't you get involved in this Blake!_ * Weiss snapped back, almost playfully. The Faunus rolled her eyes, then pulled up the post Ruby was talking about.

"'Posted 4 hours ago', is that the one?"

* _Yup. Give it a read._ * Blake handed the Scroll over to Yang, who was much more adept at reading things off and making them sound interesting than she was; Blake was aware that her semi-monotonous voice could make anything sound dull, even the greatest poetry in the world.

" _Orchid Alistair ( **_neopolitan** ) uploaded 1 photo 4 hours ago_

_'_ _I know I don't post a lot on here, but I feel that this is a milestone in my life that is worth documenting and sharing around, so feel free to do so._

_My best friend, Magnolia Frio (_ _ **mafriolia-1**_ _), has given me possibly the greatest gift I could ever have asked for. She donated her uterus so that I can have children, a feat I never knew I couldn't do naturally until much further down the line._ "

"Holy shit…" Yang muttered reflexively.

* _Keep reading._ * And so, she did.

" _When I was a child, I contracted heterochromia borealis, commonly Differing Aura Glow Syndrome or 'DAG Syndrome'. It's not a fatal disease in any way, shape or form, but it can be a debilitating one, especially as a Huntress. In the simplest of terms, it causes a person's Aura to go wild, swapping through various different colours which, while looking pretty, can actually weaken the Aura over time._

_I had a very advanced strain of DAG Syndrome, so much so it affected by physical appearance as well as my Aura. My parents and uncle caught it early and kept it in check with medicine. But the medicine reacted negatively with my particular Aura, causing it to go haywire and destroying my vocal cords. At least I thought it was only my vocal cords._

_Only recently did I and doctors discover that when the DAG reacted negatively to me did it not only take away my ability to speak, but also my ability to have children, completely destroying my uterus._

_I was heartbroken, and I had resigned myself to knowing that I would never be a Mom, at least not of my own biological children._

_But Maggie went above and beyond the call of duty as a friend. She knew the pain I was going through was tearing me up, and she took action. She told Fox (_ _**ali_stare_f** _ _) and I that she found a way to transplant someone's healthy uterus into me so that I could have children, and that she was volunteering to be the donor._

_I was lost for words (figuratively) and still am._

_This is myself and Maggie in our beds side by side after the operation. She is my best friend, and I will forever have proof of that when I have kids. We're both at home now, safe and sound._

_Love you Mags, always xxx'_

_2,975 people like this post, including ** _y.daichi_** _,_ ** _adelnomore_** _, **red.like.roses** __ _and 130 others you know_

_1,538 people have shared this post around_ "

"Wow…" the yellow and black pair uttered in harmony.

* _You're telling me,_ * Weiss said, cuddling up to her fiancée and sounding almost frightened, * _she was treated at the Atlas Hospital. Imagine what may have happened if she went anywhere else, or she didn't go at all. It's scary to think someone we've grown fond of couldn't be here if not for something so small._ *

"You're telling me…" Yang commented, stealing a quick glance at her Mate beside her.

* _What I was thinking was we could see if we can give them a surprise visit at some point, maybe even before the wedding. Both of them did something amazingly brave, Maggie for doing what she did and Neo for sharing the story; I think they deserve something. What do you guys think?_ *

"I think you're onto something Rubes," Blake mentioned. "When are you likely to be down in Vale again?"

* _Well, Ruby has still got her dress to get sorted tomorrow, so that rules then out. And we've got people coming around to do last minute things with us the day after. So I'd say we'll be available to come down in three days._ *

"Sweet. Well, don't go tiring yourselves out, and we'll see you both in three days. Come straight here and let yourselves in, we'll all shoot off together."

"See you both later!"

* _Bye Yang, bye Blake!_ * The call ended.

"So." Yang tensed up, nothing good ever came of Blake starting their conversations with 'So', especially when that was the only word she used. "You told your sister about what we do with ourselves?"

"To be fair, it… kinda slipped out one day. I didn't plan to-"

"Really? Because it sounded to me like she said that she knew 'all about our little games', going so far as to say 'Mrs. Nightshade' in _Atlesian,_ a name that has no meaning outside of the bedroom in relation to us." The brawler, trying as desperately as she could to flee, felt that she had been cornered by a very big and powerful creature that she stood no hope defeating. "That sounds pretty in depth to me."

"I'm sorry Blakey."

"That's alright."

"Huh?"

"I said, that's al-"

"I heard what you said, but it confused me."

"I accept your apology…" Yang raised an eyebrow, hearing the end of that trail off and leading to something else. "… because I know how you're going to make it up to me."

"You do?" The onyx haired woman rolled over on top of her Mate, asserting her dominance in the situation. "I mean yes, you do."

"Better. You're going to do what you were planning before, then afterwards we're going to the store. We'll buy one _small_ bottle of catnip spray for me to put back in the hidden cupboard…"

"Blake, tha-"

"Ab-bab-bab, you're making it up to me, remember?" Yang's affirmative grumble was all she needed to continue. "We get one small bottle of spray, then we come home and just relax."

"Really? _That's_ your proposition? Get another spray bottle, then sit back and do nothing?"

"Yup. And do you want to know why?" She didn't offer any words, only a raised eyebrow at the question. "Because I know how much you dislike doing nothing all day. So that's what we're going to do."

"But Blaaake!" the brawler whined. Before she got to protest any further, she was silenced by a single finger to her lips.

"Who knows, if you're good, I might see if we can get someone in to see you; I think they may have left something in a drawer for you."

A smirk crept its way onto the lilac eyed woman's face, one that grew larger and larger until it became a full on beam of a smile. "Whatever you say, my Starlight."


	20. A Willing Hostage (...honest)

It had been a few days since Doctor Otum allowed Neo and Maggie out of the hospital and back home. Coco, Velvet and Yatsuhashi all headed back to Vale right after the two of them were admitted to the hospital, taking Clementine with them. Fox on the other hand stayed in Mistral to look after them once they had been through with their operation and were eventually released from the hospital's care.

The three of them made the journey back to Vale together. Maggie drove them from the airport back to their house, the couple sitting in the back seat in a comfortable silence.

At least, that's what she thought.

In truth, the pair of them were scheming for a large portion of the journey home - a feat that was very feasible when you could speak directly into one another's minds and with no physical sign that you are doing so.

When they pulled up in the driveway, Fox got out of one side first and Neo got out of the other. Once out onto their driveway, Neo 'fell' and Fox was straight to her aid. He tried getting her up, but couldn't manage to keep her steady.

"Maggie, think you could help me out here?" he asked, trying to steady her but 'failing' to do so. The Faunus complied, going around the car to get to her. Once there, the pair took Neo inside, Fox getting the keys and letting them in. Velvet took over from Maggie, taking her into the front room.

"If you don't need me," she called into the house, "then I'll be heading…" When she turned around and was greeted by the sight of Neo shutting the door, she had to admit that she jumped a little bit. "What? But, you were… I… what?" Neo smirked, shaking her head at her friend's slow speed at realising what was happening.

"Sorry Maggie," Fox said from behind her, "but Neo wanted you to stay here for a couple of days. You've done so much for her recently, she wants to look after you back."

"That's nice and all Neo, but I need to shoot. Besides, my keys are in the car and I… okay, when and how did you get those?" she asked, pointing to the set of keys in Neo's hand, specifically _her_ car keys. She knew they were hers because of the ARMA figurine on the keychain.

"Perks of being a teleporter," Coco pointed out as she stuck her head around the corner, currently breastfeeding the now 6 month old Clementine.

"Ha ha, very funny Neo. Give them back." The illusionist's response? Stuff the keys down into her bra. "Okay, you know how empty that notion is - I will quite willingly stick my hand down there and retrieve that back." With a swap of her iris colours - pink to brown and vice versa - and a smirk, Neo promptly locked the door, removed her key and then teleported away, making sure to leave a shattering image of herself behind.

"Just so you know, that's her way of saying, 'you're not leaving'," the breastfeeding mother mentioned.

"I gathered that much."

That leads us to where Team CFVYN, Maggie and baby Clementine all are now, three days later. The Arctic Fox Faunus accepted her fate and acknowledged that she will be staying with them for the next few days as Neo's way of saying 'thank you' for what she'd done for her. She did however wish to go home _temporarily_ \- she couldn't get over the fact she had to say that repeatedly in front of Neo to get her to realise that she will be coming back - to change clothes and to get some things for her to wear over the next few days.

Once again Neo insisted that, as part of her thank you, she would go to the flat and get Maggie's things for her. As generous as the offer was, the creamy haired woman had to decline because she needed to not only get some personal things for her, but also she didn't trust Neo to not bring back any lingerie for her, despite the fact there'd be literally zero need to wear it.

As Maggie got into her car to do that, she received a message from Fox.

**Fox:**  
_DELETE WHEN YOU HAVE READ!  
_ ****_Neo just mentioned how you were right; she was going to bring some of your lingerie back from the flat. I really don't want to know how she knows where to find it._

The Faunus blushed fully, letting it come to a full glow on her face with no one around to hide it from, and promptly deleted the message as instructed before taking off back home.

She'd been staying with the rest of Team CFVYN for the past three days now. Neo _wanted_ to wait on her hand-and-foot, she even bought a maid outfit and everything.

"Why… did you buy a maid outfit Neo?" Yatsuhashi asked as he walked in on her finishing changing into it. "Especially…" Try as he might, and despite the fact that he felt no such attraction, he was still a man and he couldn't help but sneak the tiniest of glimpses down to the ridiculously short skirt and low cut blouse she wore "one that is so revealing…"

{" _I bought it to be Mags' maid for the next few days. Also, because I look fucking sexy in this, and I want her to know it._ "}

"You're married," he replied, mentally rolling his eyes at her nature even this deep into her relationship and marriage, "and as much as I know you love the person, not the gender, Fox is very much in love with you, and you alone. Don't make him feel unwanted. Also, you need to watch your language, even if it's Sign. Clementine doesn't need to have such a colourful vocabulary this early in life." She didn't like it, but she complied and took the outfit off. Though she did put it away near the top of her outfit drawer with the hope that perhaps she may get to use it later on with her husband.

Despite the joke she was willing to have with the outfit, she didn't wait on Maggie hand and foot. Really, she just wanted to make sure she had people she could talk to and be around, people she could just relax with and not have to deal with anything untoward for a few days, and the Arctic Fox was thankful for it.

What made them all turn their heads though was the knock on the door at around three in the afternoon on the day Maggie insisted she needed to go home and start getting back into work again.

"None of you ordered anything, right?" Coco asked out of curiosity. When the answer was a collective "no", she hopped up and made her way to the door, placing her handbag behind it so that it was in easy reach should anything happen.

"Hey Coco!" came Ruby's cheery voice from their porch.

"Ruby? What are you doing here?" Coco looked up and saw the rest of the team standing behind her. "More importantly, what are _you_ doing here? Haven't you got a wedding back in Atlas in a week's time?"

"We do, it's hard to forget my own wedding date." Weiss stood up straight as she continued on. "But I've made sure that everything was planned and prepared in advance, so as of now, we're free until the big day."

"And when we saw what Neo posted, we wanted to come around as a team and wish her the best."

"That's sweet of you guys. Come in." The team complied, taking their boots and heels off at the door. "Maggie's here too, so it's going to be a little bit cramped in here," the fashionista warned.

"Cool, two birds with one stone," Yang remarked.

"Guess who came to visit?" Coco teased as Weiss made her way into the main room of the house, followed by Blake, then Yang and finally, after removing her puzzle box of a boot, Ruby.

{" _Well, this is unexpected, but not unpleasant._ "}

"Hey Neo," Yang greeted, extending her arms out for the smaller yet older woman to jump into, which she did.

"What's brought you all around here? I thought you two," Fox pointed between Ruby and Weiss, "would still be back in Atlas getting everything sorted for next week."

"Nah, Weiss has been, like, _super_ organised with the whole thing. Everything's done except getting the food for everyone, which we're collecting the day before, and doing the actual thing."

The scarred man chuckled. "I wouldn't have expected anything less from you, Schnee."

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" He held his hands up with a grin, clearly not wanting to get into a quarrel he knew he'd lose, then shifted himself where he sat so that he was a little closer to Neo and giving a bit more room for everyone else to sit down too.

"Still didn't answer the question though."

"Sorry. Well, Ruby called us up a couple of morning's back to show us your post Neo." The heterochromatic woman turned fully to face the Cat Faunus speaking. "We read it, and she suggested we came down to see you together in Vale to both congratulate you and wish you the best of luck." Her attention turned to the Arctic Fox sat beside her. "And we got lucky, considering you're here too Maggie. We were going to try and find where you lived to come and say thank you and congratulations as well."

"Why would I need thanking? I didn't do anything big."

"Bullsh-" Yang was smacked on an arm by both Blake and Weiss from either side before she got to finish the word. "Ow…" Her future sister-in-law pointed to the playpen over behind where Velvet was, spotting the baby Rabbit Faunus playing in there. As she was right now, Clementine had her Faunus appendages fully developed now, so much so that she looked near enough like a Chibi clone of her Faunus mother with the facial structure of her birth Mom and thin mousy brown hair starting to grow on her head. "Grr, I keep forgetting… sorry."

"What Yang was trying to say, I believe, was that she thinks you did do something pretty big. Donating part of your body after you've died is one thing, but doing the same whilst you're still alive takes a lot more courage and forward thinking than most people assume. It shows how much you care." Pink dusted the Arctic Fox's cheeks, and her tail wrapped around her body - a tick she always had whenever she was embarrassed.

{" _Such a way with words Blake,_ "} Neo signed, {" _you should write a book._ "}

"Yeah, yeah, she gets that a lot," Yang mentioned, passing off the comment. "Sure, vast majority of the time it's coming from me, but she still gets it a lot."

"Besides, I don't think I could do that again. The book was an experience to write, sure. But it took so much time and effort to do it. And it was completely factual, taking knowledge that already existed and transcribing it into written form."

"And a few pictures," Velvet added.

"Of course, how could we forget your involvement Velvet? Yes, a few pictures too. Writing that was more of us being… well, us, trying to educate everyone on using Sign Language in a practical manner, all in an effort to not alienate you. Trying to write something completely original is a feat that takes far too much planning for me to handle."

"Aren't you four taking a year away from being Huntresses, mostly in preparation for a certain candy cane coloured couple's wedding? Why can't you write now?" the caramel haired leader asked of the younger team.

"We've not taken it off completely, we're going sparse on the missions to keep money coming in, but for the most part we're sussing out what we want to do as both couples and as a team," the red leader replied. "A lot's come of it, so we've been using the large amounts of spare time well."

"Yeah; Blake and I bought our own place, and we decided that we were willing to go to the third stage of our Mate's Marks. We're not getting married though, so no need to worry about us changing surnames or double-barrelling them. I mean, 'Belladonna-Xiao Long' or 'Xiao Long-Belladonna' is a mouthful no matter which way we cut it. Plus, we've decided that neither of us want to carry a kid in us for 9 months, so we are going to adopt in a year or so."

"And me and Weiss have be-"

"Weiss and I…" the alabaster haired woman reminded.

"Yeah, yeah. _Weiss and I_ have gotten engaged and are getting married in eleven days. The time hasn't been wasted. Even though we haven't done a lot in this year, having it almost completely free of Huntsman related business has let us relax and enjoy a peaceful life. Oum only knows that when we're back in it's gonna be anything but peaceful." Velvet stared at the crimson reaper as she said that, relating to that train of thought and thinking about how she too wanted a life like what they were describing.

"But look at you five; your lives aren't going to be peaceful at all!"

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" the Rabbit shot back at Yang, copying how Weiss spoke earlier almost beat for beat thanks to her Semblance of mimicry, though used in a far less battle appropriate scenario here.

"I mean, don't get me wrong, but…" the blonde indicated over to the side of everyone, right towards where Clementine was happily cooing to herself. "Once she gets lungs on her, she's gonna be a feisty one."

"Come on, spill Xiao Long. How would you know if our little Clemmie is going to be a crier?" The lilac eyed brawler glanced over at her silver eyed sister, her eyes lacking their usual warmth and fading into a somewhat duller and colder shade as she remembered what she had to go through as a child.

"Personal experience. And I am _not,_ " on the word, she turned her head back to Coco, her eyes now burning with a red fire, "going to explain it." They swapped back the minute Coco registered that she'd hit upon a sensitive subject and redirected questions to anyone but Yang.

_Reassurance._

She looked over at her Mate, staring into pools of amber and smiling. "It'll be okay Yang. Just… give it time. You may tell them eventually, you may not. I'll support your decision, no matter what." The brawler nodded, leaning and giving her Mate a quick kiss on the forehead as a thanks for keeping her sane.

"You w-"

"If you say, 'You were a poet, you just didn't know it', no amount of love for you is going to stop me from hitting you in the gut." Yang promptly held her tongue, wishing not to be on the receiving end of one of Blake's punches. They had grown considerably in strength since the beginning of their time as Mates, even in their time as partners, thanks in no small part to the Mark on one another's shoulder, but also training with one another for six and a half years.

"Anyway," the Rabbit eared Faunus said, "we knew what we were getting into with Clementine, especially with these things," she wiggled her animal appendages for emphasis. "No need to worry though, a certain someone may have had a talk with their father and managed to secure a patent for both noise muffling and noise cancelling, Faunus-friendly earmuffs."

"Really?!" the other two Faunus in the room blurted out in synchronised amazement even though this revelation only affected one of them physically.

"Yup!" the gunner declared, "Dad's been working on the first designs for the noise muffling ones we drew up for some time now, and they're ready to be made, with the second round making their way through the planning stages - noise cancelling things are surprisingly hard to make. I made it quite clear that the designs have to include something for everyone that needs them, from large eared Faunus right down to small eared ones. So, no need to hear your beloved snoring the night away anymore Blake."

"Hey!" Coco couldn't help but laugh at the joke at Yang's expense, even if no one else did.

"Perks of having a foot in a world of power, ain't that right Schnee?"

"I refuse to comment on that," said Schnee shot back folding her arms and looking away.

{" _Well, she didn't deny it._ "} A few of the others started chuckling at Neo's remark, with Weiss herself remaining blissfully unaware of what was said due to it being communicated in Sign Language, and you can't understand Sign Language if you aren't looking at it.

On cue, Clementine gargled in her little play area behind them all, understanding the laughing of the adults around her and trying to replicate it as best as she could. Velvet leaped over people to get to the pen, much to the sheer shock of some people there.

"What are you saying Clemmie? What're you trying to say?"

"Ah- aaah- aaahhnaa naa."

"Aww, you'll get there soon, my little bun-bun~" Ruby looked at the scene playing out, her smile sweet as she watched the Faunus she remembered being picked on by Cardin and his cronies back at Beacon because of her race now sat there and playing with her child, trying to coax something out of her that could be understood as words.

"Well, as nice as it is seeing you all again, we'd better bounce," Yang mentioned as an attempt to pry her own eyes away from the scene playing out. "I know that a certain sister of mine would like to visit some places before she returns to her palace up in the snowy North."

"You have a _palace?!_ " came Maggie's cry of disbelief.

"No, we do not. Yang seems to think so, but it is nothing of the sort."

"Yours and Ruby's bedroom is bigger than this area in here," the golden blonde commented, pointing her finger around her at the room.

"Okay, the master bedroom used to be bigger than this space, I'll give you that. But we both did some redecorating and building on that room, and made it so that all we needed managed to fit in there, including an en suite and a wardrobe. The rest of the rooms were repurposed into something similar. We made practical use of the vast quantities of space we had left."

"And Weiss didn't hurt herself once."

"Oh please; unlike my brother, I actually _can_ perform manual labour to a decent standard - it came with the desire to live away from his grasp."

"Alright, out of my house," Coco ushered, getting the soon-to-be wedded couple and their teammates up off the seats, "no marital squabbling in here." A few members of CFVYN wished them goodbye in the main room, Maggie also included in that, whilst Coco and Neo saw them to the door.

"See you later, little fighter," Yang bid to Neo, slowly and gently hitting her face as they always did once they'd left each other's company ever since Beacon, harkening back to their first ever encounter.

"See you guys soon. You did RSVP, right?" Neo nodded on behalf of everyone, Maggie not included. Weiss and Ruby were friends with her, but they didn't feel like they were close enough to invite her to their wedding. They hoped that the Arctic Fox Faunus didn't mind, and from what she'd said to them before, she didn't mind at all. "Cool. Bye!"

"I'd better go as well," came Maggie's voice from behind the two members of CFVYN at the door. Neo turned around looking a little disheartened, but she gave her reasons before the illusionist had a chance to express her opinion on the matter. "I've really enjoyed it here over the past couple of days, and I'm grateful for the fact I felt like I was a lodger here."

"You never are Maggie; you should know that."

"I know… doesn't stop me thinking it. But anyway, I have my own life to get back to. And unlike a certain super-team I just so happen to be good friends with, there's only one person paying the bills for my flat, so-"

"We understand. Get home, get some rest, get away from this crazy one," she pointed to her side with her thumb, a gesture the smallest of the three women didn't much appreciate, "and we'll see you soon."

"Yeah. Goodbye Neo," she said, hugging the smaller woman.

**I'm going to miss you.**

"Okay, you know where I live and are the only person who really visits on a regular semi-basis that isn't my landlord, you can't possibly miss me."

**You don't know me :')**

The Faunus giggled at that, then gave Neo one last squeeze of their hug before heading upstairs to collect her belongings.


	21. Something You Don't See Everyday (but if you do, you clearly must be an immortal witch living in a realm of darkness)

**I hate this Coco.  
I want to curl up in a ball and die**

"Hey! No dying on me."

**I know, I'm so young and full of life.**

"Hate to break it to you, but '33' isn't young anymore." She took a quick glance towards Clementine, who was sat in her stroller unaware of what either of the two people walking behind her were doing, so Neo responded to the comment by flipping the bird at the other adult standing beside her. "Psh, fine. Have it your way, I was trying to be nice to you."

**How do you all manage with this?!**

"Well, _we've_ had this problem all of our teenage and early adult lives, so we know when it's coming and what to do. You, on the other hand, are experiencing the third menstrual cycle of your whole life at 33 years old. Your body's bound to throw a hissy fit at that, it's a new experience for it, and it is not happy."

 _Yeah, no fucking kidding…_ the tri coloured woman thought to herself, glad that she could still shout and curse in her head without having to worry about Clementine picking any bad habits up. Her mother, on the other hand, didn't have that luxury. She'd toned down the cussing a fair amount since her child had been around.

"Besides, we've not got a lot of waiting time left. Just a few more minutes and you can see Doctor Otum, he can give you the all clear and you can be on your way to giving my baby girl a cousin."

 **If that's all you care about, then you can go to the deepest pits of Hell.** Coco shrugged, neither admitting nor denying her intentions.

"I'm not going to deny it's bad, you'd rather type up a response over signing it to me." The mute groaned silently.

"Mrs. Alistair?" came the call a few minutes later.

 _Fucking finally…_ Neo stood up and made her way over towards Doctor Otum looking - in her opinion - far less presentable than she did last time, and that was with the fact she was in a rough state having been beating Grimm and travelling across Mistral for the past ten days back then in near enough the same clothes. Now, she was dressed in a loose fitting gunmetal grey t-shirt, a deep green zip-up hoodie and some jogging bottoms that weren't too tight around her waist or crotch area that she put on fresh this morning. She'd be fine wearing something like that around the house, but not to go out in.

"Nice to see you back, Mrs. Alistair. How are you feeling?"

**Honestly, I feel like shit**

"Well, that is to be expected. I take it the menstrual cycle is going through its normal course then?" She nodded. "There have been no ill side effects or problems that have arisen that I should be made aware of?" This time she shook her head. She wasn't exactly going to tell him that she'd ruined on of her favourite pairs of panties when the first one came along. Velvet told her that it happens to most girls the first few times until they understand when it's going to happen to them, so ever since she tried to avoid wearing her nice underwear every four weeks until the whole thing was over. "And what about the immunosuppressants, nothing bad happened when you've been taking them?"

**Felt a little weak and woozy for the first few days, but you said that was to be expected.**

"Yes, the drugs are there to stop your body from fighting the transplanted part, and as such can make you feel much weaker as a result. So if that was the only thing that was of any major concern to you, then I can officially say that the transplant has been successfully accepted by your body and that you may begin trying for children as of now." She thanked him silently, beaming as she did. "It was my pleasure. Now, go tell your teammate the good news. I'll update the medical records for you so that anywhere knows that, when the time comes for birthing, you are to receive a caesarean. It's for your own and the child's safety." She nodded once again, then went back to the main lobby where Coco and Clementine were waiting.

"Wow, that was quick. How'd it go?" The woman just smiled, giving her team leader a thumbs up. "Fantastic news!" The beret toting leader leaned down and looked right at her daughter, the child's hair coming through much thicker and looking like a proper head of hair now. "Did you see Clemmie? Auntie Neo can have children now." She smiled and cooed at that, not understanding exactly what was said, but interpreting it as good if her Mama was happy.

"Mama!"

"That's right Clemmie, it's Mama. And who's that over there?"

"Ni!"

"Good girl, it's Auntie 'Ni'." The gunner gushed at her daughter's growing understanding of the world around her. "Oh, I'm not ready to let her grow up just yet…" She fussed over her some more, tickling her tummy and bringing a heap of laughs from the child, now just under ten months old. She'd already said her first word, that word being "Mama". When Coco and Velvet came back from a midday date out and the baby Faunus saw them, she smiled and almost casually gargled out a distinctive "Mama" to the pair. Both of them froze when she did that, rushing to their child's side and scooping her up, showering her with love and affection as tears of unadulterated joy cascaded from their eyes.

Neo, who had been on main babysitting duty that day, did admit to the parents that this wasn't the first time she'd ever spoken. The child did speak a couple of times earlier that day, but in here defence both times were also "Mama", and at least this time she had a video of Mommy and Mama bawling at the fact they heard their little baby speaking.

**Alright, time to go Coco**

"Yeah. We've got to make sure our team haven't killed themselves without our presence." Neo shot the leader a quizzical look.

{" _You trained Velvet up to lead in your absence, Fox has picked up a few hints and tricks, and Yatsuhashi can lead anyway but prefers to follow - they are going to be fine._ "}

"Going back to Sign, are we?" the caramel haired woman teased.

{" _I'm trying, alright? My stomach still hurts, but at least I don't have to worry about anything going wrong anymore, so I can focus a bit more to Sign._ "}

"See I just thought you were sending me messages because you were being lazy."

{" _How is that lazy? If anything, it's more effort to type up what I wanted to say. No, I sent you messages because you'll notice your Scroll going off; you won't always notice me waving my arms around in an attempt to talk to you._ "}

"I suppose so." The pair left the hospital in much greater spirits than they entered it with, Neo especially. The months since the operation had been different for her. The first month, excluding the days she stayed at home with the team and Maggie, she was very lightheaded and uneasy on her feet all because of the immunosuppressants she had to take, all topped off with the first period she had.

Month two had been much better, though there were times when there were sudden bursts of pain through her womb area that caused her to collapse, once even during an S Tier Extermination Mission against a hive of 'Fuck-Nos'. Thinking back, she probably should have mentioned that to Doctor Otum, but by this point they were already boarding the Bullhead and he'd be with another patient already.

Month three was completely free of major mishaps, with her body accepting the foreign womb much more freely. The immunosuppressant dosage was dropped because of the acceptance, so she felt stronger and more stable than previous weeks. She was even going back on more advanced missions again. The team dropped down to the mid-level missions after the 'Fuck-Nos' incident to bring in money without risking their lives too much.

"Where to ladies?" the pilot called, having made sure that they'd secured Clementine into her seat and provided her with her own pair of Adel Fashion Noise Muffling Earmuffs, created and provided by the little Rabbit Faunus' Grandpa Rod, as Coco insisted she'll call him eventually once she was speaking properly in a few years' time.

"This location," Coco answered, handing the pilot her Scroll with the Team Tracking Beacon on, pointing towards where the rest of them were, "and would you mind sticking around for a little while after we're done? It should be a drop in, pick them up and go type deal."

"No problem."

* * *

The 'VFY' of Team CFVYN were currently on the run. That wasn't ever the plan, they weren't the type of team to run away from a fight; there were statue of both the Akkorokamui and the Nuckelavee that they defeated in multiple museums around Remnant that were proof that they didn't run.

This time, they _had_ to run.

When you're expecting to fight a Ghast, you often know what to look for. Possessed boulders and trees, giant creatures made from said possessed materials that can be destroyed just as easily as their real life counterparts, and great speed considering the size that they could be.

Even with their years on the field and both Yatsuhashi's and Velvet's ability to retain a good portion of knowledge that they read, especially from Professor Port's classes, they had never seen a Ghast that had done something like this.

Possession of inanimate objects was one thing. Possessing other living creatures was something they'd dealt with a couple of times before, neither of those encounters with massively pleasant endings.

Possession and subsequent mutation of another _Grimm,_ and the trio could very easily say that this was at the top of the list of things they most certainly did not want to ever do again as long as they lived.

They knew they'd be dealing with a Ghast and, from where they were, knew that it'd most likely try and go for a large body made of trees and rocks, which it did. But it was when the fight dragged on a little longer than they'd planned and a pack of Ursa joined in that things took a turn for the ugly.

There were four Ursa Minors and two Ursa Majors coming at them as well as the Ghast. When three of the four Minors and a Major were defeated, the Ghast did something that none of them had expected. It flew from its body of natural materials and straight into the Ursa Major.

The sounds made were unsettling to say the least. The bear-like Grimm cried out in pain as its body deformed, grew and warped under its ghostly symbiote's supernatural influence. The spikes on its back, already large from its status as an older and battle hardened creature amongst its peers, extended even further, news ones jutting out as well. A pair of arms not too dissimilar to the Geist's grew out of the upper joint of its front legs, spindly in comparison to its actual limbs but still effective for what they needed to do. Its head deformed as well, spikes growing even more over its bony mask and its jaw splitting down the middle so that it now had a flower like mouth as opposed to a regular looking one. And of course, it grew in size as well. Once standing 9ft tall, this abomination now towered over everyone at nearly 12.5ft.

So naturally, when this thing took note of them again, Velvet - being the leader of the team at present - felt that it was an appropriate and justified response to order Fox and Yatsuhashi to "Run like hell!"

And so they did.

"How is this thing so fast?!" Fox shouted as they ran, the giant abomination keeping up with them all as they weaved in and out of the trees in an effort to stay ahead of it as it just mowed them down like an inconvenience.

"We need to think of a plan," Yatsuhashi called out, "and fast. We can only run for so long." She didn't want to admit it, but he was right. As much as she'd hoped they could keep running from the problem presented to them, they had a job to complete. Even with this monumental curveball thrown their way, they should be able to deal with it.

"Call Coco!" Fox shouted, jumping up to a tree on his left and throwing himself off it to gain more distance for less effort. Velvet did just that. The first time this happened; 'this' being her given the lead of the group and something went wrong, she outright refused to see it through without Coco's help or input in any way. Now, she knew that if things were going wrong and she _could_ contact Coco, which in this case she could, they'd she'd do just that.

* _Hey Velvs,_ * Coco said the second her phone was picked up, * _how's everything coming along?_ *

The Rabbit answered with a short and brutally honest, "Horribly," moving the camera on her Scroll to show the mutated Grimm chasing them down.

* _What the fuck is that?!_ * the leader cursed upon seeing the Grimm.

"It's what happens when a Ghast possesses an Ursa Major. No time to explain, get here now!" The mage made a note though to scold her Mate for swearing so blatantly in front of their daughter, who she didn't see but knew would be there.

* _We're on our way. Keep it busy and try to keep in the same place. Tracking you will be easier, even from the air._ *

"This thing is charging through trees like they're nothing, you'll be able to see it from miles away!"

* _Okay then, at the very least try and get to a clearing. We'll be with you ASAP._ *

"Thanks Coco." The moment the call ended, Velvet had to duck under a rock that the monstrosity had grabbed and hurled in their general direction as it chased them down. Going off what little information her partner gave her, Velvet now had a goal in mind - survive until Coco and Neo arrived - and an objective to complete that goal - get to a large open space for the remainder of the team to arrive. "Guys, we need to find a clearing and keep it occupied, Coco and Neo are coming!"

"Understood Velvet," Yatsuhashi called out as he continued running, slicing down bushes that got in their way of a clean and safe run away from the thing.

"Right!" came Fox's reply, the copper haired man still bouncing between trees in an effort to distract it and slow it down, but to no avail.

"Fox, if you're going to jump from trees, see if you can get higher and search for a clearing."

"On it!"

"Stay close to us though, we don't want to lose you."

"With _that_ thing chasing after us, unlikely." Doing as he was told, the tan skinned brawler leapt off to the right, aiming to find something as fast as he possibly could.

"Yatsu, keep running, but bank to the left. Fox will search, we just have to keep running."

"I understand. Let us hope Fox finds somewhere and that your wives make it here soon." A small smile graced the Rabbit's face as they started their small bank to the left. She opened her weapon up, letting the blue light seep out for her to create the weapon of choice. It manifested itself into the form of a pair of cannon arm braces she'd seen on a Huntsman they were searching for a few weeks back on a mission.

They'd found him a very bad state, almost making it back to civilisation before his wounds got the better of him and he slipped away. Velvet took a lot of photos, using up nearly an entire roll of her special film to capture the likeness of the weapons - she didn't want to keep them for the sole purpose of her own armoury, they belonged to him and so should stay with him.

As they formed on her arm, she used the fact that she and her teammate were banking to once side to swivel around and start firing at the creature. The large, almost cannonball sized rounds the man used in his weapon worked wonders against the extra reinforced bones of the possessed Ursa Major, causing it to stumble after every hit and even knocking it down to the ground on the fifth impact. It freed so much space between them and it, so she stopped firing once it had tripped and hoped that Fox would find somewhere fast now that they had a large enough space to work with.

"Got one," came Fox's voice from their earpieces "half a click at 325º from where the destruction of trees seems to have stopped."

"Yeah, I shot one of the Huntsman's cannonball rounds into its chest, completely toppled it," the mage proudly stated as she and the 7ft swordsman altered their course.

"That explains it." He made a slight grunting noise, accompanied by the sound of wind blowing through his comms.

 _He's still on the move,_ the Faunus thought to herself. He continued talking as he navigated along the trees, stopping every time he needed to push off so he could focus everything on that action.

"You might… want to get a… bit more of a move on… because I think… it's getting up." Sure enough, the beast cried out in anger at what had happened to it, the sound reaching through the trees and frightening the natural wildlife away. If they hadn't known what was making that sound, the trio would have had every right to be scared of whatever creature could make a sound like that.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" the pilot called to the two women in the back of the Bullhead.

"Yeah, even over the engines. Must be what the others are fighting."

Neo started to sign in a slight panic, saying, " _we need to get to them as soon as we can._ " Clementine couldn't hear what the sound of the creature was like thanks to her earmuffs, but there was something that happened that caused an instinctive reaction in the child. Her eyes started watering and her bottom lip began to tremble, and while Neo just about heard the beginnings of crying, Coco swore she felt the sadness before she saw it.

"Oh, baby! No, it's okay. It's alright, Mommy's here." The gunner leaned down and grabbed the child out of her stroller and cuddled her close, rocking side to side and gently shushing her.

"I think I see something!" the pilot buzzed through, "a bunch of trees all falling down in a line, heading towards what looks like a field to our left."

Neo looked down at her Scroll and saw that Velvet's beacon was right next to where he pointed out the field was. {" _That's them,_ "} she signed to Coco, who relayed the message on to the pilot.

"Get us as close to that field as you can, we need to jump in and help them." He nodded an affirmative and turned to get closer, their height slowly dropping to a safe distance above the ground for them to jump out. "Can you stick around for long?"

"An area like this? No can do, lady. You'll need to get another ship to collect you."

{" _What are we going to do about Clementine? We can't leave her here._ "}

As much as she didn't want to say it, the fashionista answered with, "Then we'll have to take her with us." The child hadn't even seen a full year in this world, and she was already being subjected to a mission. Not exactly what any parent wants from their children, especially when they have no choice.

But sometimes, needs must.

"Grab the carrier from the back, we'll have to take it down with us." It took a minute or two for the pair to sort themselves out, collapse the stroller into a more compact and easier to carry size, and to also fit Coco up with the baby carrier and place Clementine in it. The Faunus child had to be on Coco's back because of the situation they were getting into, and having Clementine over her front limited her already hindered movement if - but most likely when - she needed to use her weapon, though she was still facing forward.

"Good luck!" came one last bit of encouragement from the pilot as the two women prepared to leap down into the action. Coco once again felt a twinge of fear that wasn't her own, so glanced backwards to look at Clementine.

"It's going to be alright sweetheart. Mommy's going to protect you. You, and Mama, and Auntie Ni, and Uncle Yatsu and Uncle Fox. It'll be alright." The child saw her Mother and grinned a small, toothy grin.

"Mama."

"That's right sweetie, it's Mommy." She took the opportunity whilst Clementine was distracted to leap from the vehicle, her weapon in tow. Neo came soon after, carrying her own weapon and also a far more compact baby stroller.

Even over the small vertical distance and with advanced hearing like most Rabbit Faunus do, the wind rushing through your ears makes talking in a normal voice and being heard impossible, so Coco was shouting to comfort the child. "I'm not going to let you get hurt. The only one who will be hurting is the big bad monster that Mama asked us to help with." She hit the ground, her boots digging into the grass slightly. "I promise."

The clothes that she was in weren't optimal fighting attire and she knew that. But thinking on it, what she was wearing was ten times better than the extremely casual comfort clothes Neo had on. No point in dwelling on that, they had a monster to take care of. The women took off across the grass, heading towards the destroyed treeline and most likely where their friends and partners were.

Sure enough, Fox leapt down from the canopy and ran into the middle of the field, indicating for Coco and Neo to do the same once he spotted them. Yatsuhashi and Velvet followed soon after.

"Thank the Gods your here," Velvet puffed having used more Aura than she would have liked to keep ahead of the mutant Ursa, "I wasn't sure what to do in a situation like this."

"You made the right call," the official team leader clarified, easing the mind of the Faunus before her, "if in doubt, always ask for clarification. I can help where I can if it's something small, but this is far from small."

"You're telling me," the mage playfully shot back.

Hearing her Mama's voice, Clementine called out. "Mama." Hearing the unmistakable voice of a child, _her_ child, chocolate brown eyes widened and peered around the beret wearing woman, spotting the child in her carrier behind her and seeing her smiling, reaching out to her with a cry of joy and another attempt to say "Mama", though this time it came out more as "Ma-a".

"You brought Clementine with you?!" the older Faunus questioned in complete disbelief.

"Well, yeah… Our pilot wasn't going to stick around, so it was either bring her along or leave her to be taken Oum knows where," her wife shot back.

"But why is she _here?_ Why couldn't she have stayed at home?"

"What, with no one there to look after her? Real smooth move there Velvs."

"Guys?" Fox said in a futile attempt to get their attention.

"Well then what about stopping at home first, and then coming here to help us second?"

"Guys," he repeated sounding much more anxious this time.

"If I recall, you called my Scroll whilst we were on the Bullhead already and told us to hurry to you. I was just following your instructions."

"I didn't know you had our baby with you. I would have told you to make sure she was safe first before coming here, heck I would have _expected_ you to think the same."

"Sure, in the heat of the moment, you would have had a logical brain to think 'Hmm. I think I need to make sure my daughter is going to be alright. I'd better get her to-"

"Guys!" he shouted, breaking up the argument.

"What?!" they both called back. That's when they realised their mistake.

"Oh... shit."


	22. Very Possessive

Whilst the pair of them had been fighting, they had neglected to pay attention to their surroundings, despite the calls from their gauntlet sporting teammate. As such, the monstrosity had managed to gain ground on them completely and was now towering over them menacingly a mere 5 feet away, looking extremely pissed off at the lot of them, but especially Velvet.

Coco tried her hardest to shield her daughter from the sight of the monster, a Grimm wasn't exactly something you want a child to gaze upon, but with it being nearly twice the height of even Yatsuhashi, it was a near impossibility. The child gazed upon the creature, unintentionally looking directly into its four piercing red eyes. She processed it, just as it processed her. Sadly, it was much older and could process things faster, so it reared up on its hind legs, now dwarfing everyone at approaching 16 feet tall, and went to slam its front paws at the group in an attempt to crush them.

"Move!" Coco cried as its weight started to shift. The abomination began bringing its front legs down hard as the team all jumped out of the way, its paws smashing into the ground and causing craters where they landed.

"Coco," Yatsuhashi called as he skidded to a halt, "do you have a strategy to deal with this Grimm?" She gazed through her sunglasses at the creature who, after smashing the ground, was now using its new arms to pick up and possess the broken piles of rubble around it, thickening its already massively armoured body with stone.

"It's a mutated Ursa, right? And it's being possessed by a Ghast? That means that it's got all the strengths of an Ursa and the perks of a Ghast possession, but also all of the shortcomings, weaknesses and flaws of both creatures." She looked back from her team to the beast, its body now mostly grey, white and slightly brown with the rocks and its natural bone armour taking centre stage on its form, the only major specs of any other colour coming from its glowing red eyes and the black mist seeping through cracks in the rock formation. "We need to exploit that."

The mutant roared, letting the quintet know that it was read to take them on and also bringing in the aid of a couple of nearby Grimm, including the one Ursa Minor that Velvet, Yatsuhashi and Fox didn't finish before the Ghast took control of the Ursa Major.

Now, while the adults may have understood the notion of "put on a brave face" and "hide your feelings", Clementine was but a child with no such knowledge of such things. They may conceal their emotions, but she was still of that age where she expressed exactly how she felt.

If she was happy, she would smile and laugh at whatever or whoever made her happy.

If she was tired, she'd yawn if she needed to or just flat out fall asleep whenever and wherever she felt like it.

If she was sad, nothing would stop her from letting the tears flow and her audibly announcing her displeasure.

If she was terrified, like she was now, she was more than happy to start bawling her eyes out and screaming at the sight and sound of such a monstrous creature. All five adults spun their heads as best they could to see the child. Neo's eyes flickered to an ivory white, and both Coco and Velvet swore they felt a wave of terror run through them.

"Velvet, move!" Yatsuhashi cried as the Ursa went for another attack. Its claws, now sticking out much more than before and looking almost like blades, sliced right over her head as she ducked, one claw clipping and cutting the sensitive skin on top of her ears. She cried out in pain, a reflex that caught Coco's attention.

"Velv!" The Faunus continued to dodge its attacks as it kept trying to hit her, her dodging efforts much better than before and it not getting anywhere near as it did on the first strike. She was thankful for that, but couldn't take any more chances. "Everyone keep moving. We need to find that mask. Draw its attention any way you know how, just keep it confused." The team did as instructed, but Coco had to jump back and out of the way.

Through all this, the fashionista was trying her hardest to ignore the fact that there was a crying baby less than a foot away from her ears.

"Come on baby," she pleaded with the child, "stop crying. Stop crying for Mama, that's a good girl." A bullet or two whizzed past their heads, and when she turned to the source she saw her team doing as she instructed. But she couldn't stay here and do nothing, that wasn't the type of leader she was.

They were Bullhead Leaders, as she called them; people in charge of a group of Huntsmen or soldiers or even police officers who lead from afar, away from the actual battle. They saw a grander view of the playing field, sure, but they had no idea about the intricate levels of said battle.

She was the type of leader who was there on the front lines with her team, making decisions up on the fly and contributing to the mission at hand. And she couldn't be that type of leader is she was stuck here with her child.

_Frustration._

Clementine started sniffling harder and almost started crying again the moment Coco began to feel that way, and the caramel woman realised that sooner rather than later, calming her wild emotions.

"No no no baby, no crying. Mama needs you to be a big girl now, alright?" The girl still whimpered, still teetered on the edge of breaking down.

"Coco, we need you here!" came Yatsuhashi's voice from afar, probably the only one of them who could have shouted and been heard from this distance.

"Give me a moment!" she shouted back, running back slightly so she was out of harm's way again. She unclipped the carrier off her back and cradled the child in her arms, singing a song to her. The only difference was that she sang a little more hastily than the original, but only out of an urgency to make sure her teammates were safe.

 _#So much I wanna give you,#_  
#So much I wanna say,#  
#You've changed our lives forever#  
#And it had only been a day.#

 _#And with our every single breath#_  
#We'll love you for all time,#  
#Your Mom and I are proud of you#  
#Our sweetest Clementine.#

 _#It's been the greatest day#_  
#And one I won't forget#  
#It's been the greatest day#  
#The day that we first met#  
#The day that we first met.#

It was Clementine's song, one that a friend of Velvet's sister Harriet from back at her school wrote for them. Apparently it didn't take much to convince the young man to write something for them, especially since it was Harriet who asked him. Hearing stories about him, Coco was pretty sure the guy fancied her but wasn't taking the hints of 'Not my type' or just outright 'Not interested' from her. He'd learn eventually.

The child, whilst not fully developed in a mental or physical sense, still understood the significance of that song. It was _her_ song. Only her Mama and Mommy sang it for her, and when they did, it came with a promise that everything was going to be alright, at least for a little while. So when the song stopped, the tears followed soon after.

"That's a good girl. Who's the best girl? You are~!" she giggled slightly as she put Clementine back into the carrier. The child giggled slightly too, seemingly happy that her Mama was happy. "Now, Mama needs to help Mommy and her team, so it may get a bit loud again," she warned her, hoping that she understood. "Here, I got you your red pair of earmuffs." She pulled the noise cancelling earmuffs out from the pouch on the back of the carrier ready for her daughter to wear. She knew she had to swap the earmuffs as fast as possible, the battle going on behind them was rather loud.

As Coco reached to take the Faunus' pink noise muffling earmuffs off, a roar from behind drew her attention. She turned, only for her heart to drop as she saw a Beowolf leaping at her, its gaping jaw far too close to dodge out of the way or counterattack. She had to let it hit her, and more importantly she had to save Clementine.

A shatter and the sound of metal piercing flesh were the next things she heard, followed by the shadow looming over them dissipating and shrinking down into a smaller, woman sized one. The gunner peered around and saw Neo standing there, her arm still extended from where she'd stabbed the Grimm, the remnants of the beast still floating away in the wind.

"Thanks Shortcake," came the relieved sigh. The mute sheathed her sword and turned to help her friend.

{" _We really need you back over there, how can I help?_ "}

"We need a quick swap of her earmuffs. Pink ones off, red ones on. She'll still be able to see what's going on, but at least she won't hear it." The mute nodded in understanding and placed her hands over the pink earmuffs on the child's head, said child squealing as she saw the familiar and friendly face of her auntie.

"Ready?" she asked, her hands on the red earmuffs. "Three, two, one, go!"

It was a speedy procedure, and Clementine appeared to have even noticed.

{" _Let's get you to the fight. We need our leader, and our team mascot._ "}

"Clementine is not our team mascot," Coco deadpanned as she took the pink noise muffling earmuffs and put them in the same place the red ones were kept originally. "If you want a team mascot so badly, make your own." Now ready for battle, Coco grabbed her weapon, strapped Clementine back in and started marching towards the mutant Grimm ahead. Neo followed suit, but kept Coco's words in mind.

Fox took another few shots at the creature, the bullets doing no more than scratching the monster's rocky hide.

"We're not getting anywhere with this thing," he stated, "we need to do something else." The monster slammed a paw on top of him, one that smashed the ground below, but as he jumped it also swung one of its arms at him. He couldn't dodge it mid jump, so all he could do was bring his Aura up and take the hit. He flew back a few dozen feet, skidding to a halt. ~ _Why does it feel like I'm always the one to get sent flying by these things?~_

~ _You're not,_ ~ the voice of his wife replied, ~ _so stop whining like a bitch and help us kill this thing.~_

~ _Wow. No pulled punches, eh?_ ~

The tri coloured woman scoffed. ~ _Y_ _eah, I'd still win even if I_ _ **did**_ _pull my punches.~_

~ _Fuck you._ ~

~ _Later. For now, let's kill this thing.~_

"Any luck on finding that mask?" Coco inquired as she made her way back to the fight, swatting a flung rock away from her and Clementine with her handbag.

"So nice of you to join us," Velvet criticised.

"Our child was bawling her eyes out, and I wouldn't want to leave her lying in the middle of an open field, so excuse me for putting her life before our own. We can handle a situation like this, she can't."

"Fine!" the Faunus replied harshly, admitting she was wrong be evidently not too keen on it. "No, we haven't found the mask. It's got to be there though."

"Maybe not," the fashionista replied. "We've never seen a Ghast possess another living being before, so we don't know what to expect. For now, let's forget about the mask and focus on the next best thing. Fox, Neo, Yatsu; you need to get its joints exposed. Try getting it to look up. Velvet, you and I need to destroy that armour - we're the only ones that can. Jump back a bit and lay into it with the Gatling gun, or anything else that packs a big punch."

"'I've got that, I've also got that Huntsman's weapon from earlier this month. I used a couple of minutes of it, so it won't last as long, but it knocked this thing over without the rock armour pretty easily."

"Sounds like a good one, use that." The pair jumped back side by side, Coco finally revealing her massive golden gun whilst Velvet let her hard light cannon gauntlets come back onto the playing field. Velvet glanced over to her right, and saw Clementine staring at her and smiling at her Mommy awesomeness. Her sour expression faded slightly at the sight of her daughter's smile, and Coco felt the wave of _Peace_ flow through her.

"Neo," Yatsuhashi called, "we need to get it to look up and expose its chest. Think you and Fox could gain some height on the thing?" It was rare for the swordsman to offer any suggestion when it came to fighting, but the pink and orange pair weren't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

She nodded at his suggestion, then signed back to her armoured teammate, {" _Need footing. Get to the treeline._ "} He saw what she was suggesting and complied immediately, running away from where they were fighting and getting closer to more footing for Fox and Neo. ~ _We'll take out the small fry's, then get to the trees and attack from above. We need it looking up, so let's give it something to look at._ ~

~ _I love how your mind works.~_

~ _Only my mind? I thought I had much better assets than that.~_

~ _Well yeah,_ ~ he acknowledged, punching a Beowolf and extending his blade to pierce its skull, ~ _that is pretty obvious. I mean come on, you don't use it for things like talking, but that mouth is amazing.~_

~ _Such a charmer,_ ~ she grinned as she leapt high over another Beowolf's swing and fell back down, driving her feet into the creature's neck, followed swiftly by her sword, ~ _I was thinking more along the lines of my smile, or my God-like charm, or my bum, or my hair. I'm not all mouth, y'know.~_

~ _Fine; those things too._ ~ They took off towards the trees, Fox jumping early to get on to the first branch of the nearest tree, Neo straight up teleporting to the canopy level.

"The hell are they going?" Coco called infuriated.

"I told them to go high," their tank of a teammate replied over the clash of bone claw and rock on metal, "you'll need its chest exposed to get it down, then we can go for the kill."

"… Good call Yatsu. We'll make a leader of you yet." She knew he'd decline the position every time he was offered it, but she wanted to get her point across; he knew what he was doing, and he was good at it.

"No thanks." Point proven.

The mutant Ursa was about to take another swing at Yatsuhashi, but a shot from behind drew its attention instead. It turned, but saw nothing but trees. Just then, a pair of flats landed on its head and kicked at it, making it wobble a bit and use its new arms to try and grab what was up there. After that, another shot came from a different angle, followed swiftly by another shot, then a stabbing pain through a single joint its armour around its neck as Neo's sword found an opening. It cried in pain, flailing wildly as more and more attacks rained from the sky; kick, shot, shot, kick, stab, shot, kick, stab. There was no pattern to what they were doing, so all it could do was try its best to hit whatever it was that was attacking from all around.

Fox jumped and shot at the beast, then Neo teleported and caught him, getting him back onto a trajectory that landed him on a tree branch. Once he was there, Neo would teleport herself close by and land a hit on its body with either her not practical for the situation shoes or her slightly more so weapon.

The Grimm's aggravation only grew as time progressed, standing higher and higher until at its full height in attempt to slash at either of the flying pests. But every strike they made hit where it hurt, and as such the Ghast possessing the body needed to relocate its face to stop the high hitting people from getting it.

"On its stomach!" Coco whirled the barrels of her Gatling gun as the cycloptic face of the Ghast appeared on the rocky underbelly of the creature. She let it rip, firing her weapon straight at it and sauntering forward as she did so. Velvet joined in on the heavy assault, firing hard light cannonballs that exploded on impact against the body of the beast, the Faunus grunting with every shot reverberating through her body, even with the construct being weightless. And Clementine, only seeing her Mommy being awesome and feeling her Mama's body vibrating like a washing machine had the child screaming in delight.

_Glee._

Coco felt the smile grow on her lips as she continued to fire, and Velvet let out a small chuckle.

Seeing the beast drop down to be on its fours again, Neo took the chance and went for the finishing manoeuvre. She blinked over to Coco and Velvet, quickly signing to Velvet to copy her Mate's weapon. Once she had and had whirred it up to firing speed, the mute teleported the pair of them underneath the beast, getting them into the perfect spot to let loose at the exposed Ghast mask and hopefully the monster as a whole.

The two Gatling guns fired into the beast with perfect harmony, as was to be expected when the weapon fired hundreds of rounds a second. The Ghast screeched from the pain it was suddenly feeling, followed closely by its death. The Ursa, however, remained standing despite the possession being over. As the three females of the team leapt backwards, four if you counted Clementine, its extra limbs dropped off and its face started to contort back to normal again, and it began shrinking rapidly as the rocky armour fell from its body, leaving only a basic Ursa Major standing.

"Yatsu!" Coco called, "end it." The giant complied, running in and taking a single powerful swing at the beast's neck. Whilst the creature's bony plating was still thick, it was no match for the force of the strike, and as the head started to fall to the ground it evaporated into nothingness along with the body, their mission now complete.

Velvet let her weapon fade away, Fox made his way back down to ground level, Coco's guns stopped whirring and both Neo and Yatsuhashi sheathed their blades. The older Faunus made her way over to her daughter, who smiled and made positive noises at her sight.

"Who's that Clementine~?" the fashionista asked with wonder for her little girl's benefit, removing her earmuffs so she could hear properly again, "is that Mommy?" The older Rabbit looked suddenly surprised at her introduction, again for Clementine's benefit, and hid behind her ears. "*gasp* Where'd Mommy go?" The child looked around inquisitively, not being able to directly see her Mommy's face and so was surprised to see her 'disappear' like her Auntie Neo did. But she removed her ears a couple of seconds later, much to the joy of the child. "There she is~!"

"And how's my girl doing?"

"She's been as good as gold, the earmuffs really helped to elim-"

"I was talking about you."

The gunner looked at the Faunus with a perplexed look. "Oh, so I'm yours now?"

"I mean, you have got a ring and my surname that kind of says so." The taller - excluding extra ears - of the two stared through her sunglasses at the comment, the chocolate brown haired woman smiling after the eye contact lasted a little longer than normal.

"Touché."

"… I'm kidding, Chocolate Drop. I'm no more yours than you are mine, and even though I still haven't fully forgiven you for bringing Clementine here to a _battlefield-_ "

"Oh boy…" she muttered.

"-I know why you did it, and so I'm willing to overlook it slightly, if only on the grounds that you had literally no other choice. And it means I get to see my darling little angel again much sooner than I thought." She picked the child up out of the carrier and hugged her close, Coco coming in and enveloping the child in a hug so comforting and tender.

"How'd everything go with Doctor Otum today?" Fox asked now that they had some breathing space.

~ _He gave me the all clear, said we could start trying for a kid whenever we wanted.~_

"That's amazing hun!" he cried as he hugged her tight.

~ _Okay, ow._ ~ Maybe a bit _too_ tight then. He released her with a snappy apology. ~ _We may be strong, but I'm still reeling from the bloody mess I made.~_

"Urgh, did _not_ need to know that…" he muttered as she came back in for a much more tender embrace.

* * *

"What's our plan guys?" Coco asked as they walked out of the terminal in Vale after returning from their mission and doctor's appointment in Mistral.

"Aren't you our team leader?" Fox chuckled, "you're supposed to be the one coming up with ideas for us to do."

"Just because I'm 'Team Leader' doesn't automatically make me the 'Team Mom'. If anything," she mentioned as a large smile grew, "it'd be Granny Orchid over here. She's older than all of us, she should be Mom of the group."

{" _By age,_ "} the aforementioned woman replied in sign, {" _yes, I'm 'Mom' of the group. But as it stands right now, you're the only one of us who's given birth. You're the only official 'Mom' of the team._ "} Coco cursed Neo's logic, wondering if that came from the stab at her age, or the unwarranted 'Granny' moniker, or whether it was just stating a plain fact. Being with Neo for as long as she had, the sunglass toting gunner knew that the woman would have never said something like that in spite, but Coco couldn't help but slightly glare at her.

"Still hasn't answered my question though."

"Well, we've just come off a good win on a mission, and we now know that our trichromatic friend can have kids now, so I say that's a good enough reason for us to all go out and have a nice meal."

"Awesome! You guys enjoy yourselves." As Fox and Neo headed towards the smaller of the family's two car, Velvet ran between them and halted them as the rest got closer.

"Now I know I'm no expert wordsmith like Ms. Belladonna, but I'm pretty sure 'all of us' encompassed you two as well." She folded her arms, testing their resolve for their point of walking away. "Unless you've decided to form your own splinter team without us, then that's fine. Just don't expect any niceties when we come to blows."

"Coco…"

"What? I'm giving them a warning."

"We're not forming a splinter group," Fox assured, "but we _are_ trying for a child, and what better time than the present?" Coco rolled her eyes in annoyance, but couldn't quite keep the smile from her face. "Saw that," he joked again.

"Oh shut up." With a sigh, she waved them away. "Go on then, we'll go out somewhere and enjoy ourselves. But that means we get a pass at some point as well." Neo nodded at the offer, taking Fox's arm and walking away with him to the car as the remaining four stayed behind for a minute.

* * *

There wasn't a desperation when the two got home. They weren't eager to get in and rip each other's clothes off and get down to it, or if they were, they didn't show it. The couple were more than happy to let everything progress in its own time.

They knew that this time they were going to get it right. It was just a feeling they both had, and so they wanted it to be special.

After getting home and making their way up to the bedroom, the mute wrapped her arms around her husband's neck as his arms slinked around her waist. They started swaying to an invisible beat, soaking in the moment.

The scarred man broke their content silence. "It's so rare we get to do this anymore."

~ _I agree,_ ~ she replied. She leaned up and placed a delicate yet loving kiss on his lips. ~ _But that makes the times we do it so much more meaningful._ ~ He smiled at that, leaning down and placing a similarly chaste kiss on her lips. Neo returned the gesture, letting it sit for slightly longer than before, and Fox did the same after leaving less time for the last one to fade from touch.

Eventually, they stopped beating around the bush and let their lips connect fully in a proper kiss that showed the other how much they loved and cared for them. As the first item of clothing slipped off Fox's shoulders, they fell back onto the bed gently. Fox landed first and Neo on top of him. Once Neo had removed her top though, she rolled and pulled Fox so that he was leaning over her.

~ _I love you Fox, and I trust you fully.~_ Knowing her history, the brawler was aware that she was very much the type of person to lead when it came to bedroom antics. It worked better that way; they wouldn't feel like they had power over her and try to make her stay, she was always in control of the situation. Letting Fox be the one in charge, letting Fox literally be the one to control the pace of how this would go, when it came to something as special as this moment, showed him just how much his wife truly cared for him and how much he means to her.

"I love you too, Neo. With all my heart."


	23. A Birthday Present for Everyone

Neo didn't make much noise. It was part of who she was as a person - Team CFVYN's mute, ice cream coloured swordswoman.

Even with such a title, that didn't mean that she was completely silent all the time. Her breathing was still audible if you listened hard enough. Every step she took made a sound. The only thing that was broken about her was her voice, so she couldn't speak.

And despite being her romantic partner for eight years, Fox had never really heard Neo throwing up in the toilet.

That was, until this morning.

He stood outside the room in the team's house, nervously tapping his foot on the floor and biting down on a knuckle as Neo was most likely by the loo throwing up a surprising amount. Coco, recognising the symptoms, went in there to help immediately, even going so far as to lock the mute's husband out of the room. Hence why both of their partners were standing outside.

Velvet, clad in a pair of pink check pyjama bottoms and a grey t-shirt to match, was the first to speak of the two of them. "At least this is a good thing."

"How does that help?" he muttered back through his fist. The mage sighed, not really understanding what he couldn't grasp.

"I mean, she may just be really ill all of a sudden, but my Lien is on it being morning sickness. And that's good."

"Care to clarify?"

"How are you not getting this?" she groaned to herself, "if she's going through morning sickness, it means that the transplant worked, and you could have a kid on the way."

"Velv, that's exactly what I'm worried about." The comment from the scarred man surprised her; he'd been fully supportive of the idea of having kids and if what was happening the other side of the door was what everybody thinks it is, then he was definitely on board with it as well. The Rabbit Faunus closed the gap between them, took Fox by the shoulder and gently lowered her body down the wall to the floor, bringing him with her.

"What's brought this on Fox? I thought that you were over the moon to have kids."

"I am," he reassured, "but that doesn't mean I'm not scared. I know that this didn't happen last time, and if I'm being honest the fact that nothing happened at all during that should have been a pretty big warning sign, yet things could still go wrong." She heard her friend next to her sniffle and his words get tougher to say through the growing pool of tears in his eyes. Anyone would be hard pressed into convincing her that this wasn't a child next to her with how vulnerable he sounded and how weak his resolve was. "We've wanted this baby for so long now, I just want this all to go right for a change."

"Hey, none of that."

"But it's true."

"Bullshit if it is." Velvet didn't care about the cursing as it stood right now. Clementine was still napping in the other room, and as such she was neither close enough to her it nor awake enough to process it. "Look at where you are now: you have a beautiful wife and a roof over your head, sharing the space with two of the best people in the world and my lovely daughter."

"Velvs, there's five adults. You only said four."

"Yeah, well, Coco's a bitch anyway."

"I am only through here," came the muffled voice of said 'bitch', "so I can hear every word you're saying about me." Velvet didn't even try to act sympathetic or sorry, she just smiled smugly towards the general direction of Coco, the couple both knowing that the banter between them was in jest.

"But do you really think that this one is going to go bad?" she asked, bringing the conversation back to them.

"The last one did…"

"Poor excuse. You had a botched set of tests that made you think you were. Even now after that whole fiasco was sorted, _I_ took a test. I came out as expecting, despite the very essence of my relationship with Coco coming from the fact that neither of us have the equipment to do things the old fashioned way. They were a load of crap and a waste of 50 Lien. This will be fine as lo-"

 **"** **Bleurgh!"** came the unmistakable sound from the woman by the toilet.

~ _Urgh, gross.~_

~ _I can't help it_ ,~ Neo commented telepathically to her husband after his thought, bringing a small, fleeting smile to his face.

"As long as you take everything a little easier. If you're really _that_ scared for her safety, I'd say take extra care of her," Velvet continued after the little interruption. "Not to the same level as you were with us and Clementine, but just a bit more care."

He glanced at the woman next to him. "What did I do to deserve a friend like you?"

"Picked up the White Rook," she replied with a smile, leaning her head on his nearest shoulder to show that she was there for him. He appreciated it. The sound of the bath being run appeared, so the pair had to speak up a little more to hear one another.

"Yatsu picked up the White Rook, not me."

"Yeah, well _I_ picked up the White Rook, so you can thank your lucky stars that I did. I was going to go for the Black Queen."

"Who went for the Black Queen in the end?"

"Oceana did. Remember her?"

"Nope."

"Really?!" He shrugged at that, her head shifting with the rise and fall of his shoulders. "Oceana lead Team OLHV {Olive}, she was with those three guys who everybody thought were tough until she put them in line. Her and Hiroshi were partners and she practically carried the team through the first year and a bit."

"Oh her. Gods, I remember her. She ended up being scared of Neo and didn't show her face around us for as long as she could."

"Good thing too, she annoyed me with her shrill voice. 'Ooh look at me, I'm Oceana. I'm tough because I've got these three backing me up to look tougher.' Honestly, it pissed me off no end."

"You ever thought what your team name would have been if you'd gone for that piece?"

"Funny you should say that, I spoke to Oceana during our formal graduation get together. Turns out she's not too bad once you get past the shrill of her voice. We figured out that the only team name that would have worked would have been if Hiroshi was leader, then we could have been HVOC {Havoc}, and even _that_ isn't really a colour."

"Hiroshi couldn't lead lemmings off a cliff," Fox claimed in response to the idea. Hiroshi wasn't the brightest knife in the crayon box, and on the occasion the teams had to swap leadership, Hiroshi had to hand the reins back over to Oceana after no more than an hour because he nearly got them all killed trying to attack a Deathstalker nest that was far larger than he thought it would be. So the claim that 'he couldn't lead lemmings off a cliff' was a fairly accurate one.

"Yeah. HVOC would have sounded pretty cool though, but the poor guy was never cut out to be a leader. Great at following instructions, not as good at giving them out." The copper haired man smiled at the thought. He had to admit, he wasn't the best at remembering people from his year at Beacon, but to be reminded of some of them every now and again did actually make him think back on his life before and how big of a gap there is between what he was and had back then, and what he is and has now.

The lock on the door beside them slid open where Coco and a paler than usual looking Neo exited.

"How're you feeling Neo?" Velvet asked, still sat by Fox's side but no longer resting her head on his shoulders. The mute's response was a weak looking smile and a slight shrug; with her arms cradling onto a hot water bottle she couldn't exactly sign her response to Velvet. Fortunately, the ever-present ability to communicate with Fox was still around, so he relayed her thoughts to the Faunus.

"She says she feels like 'someone transformed her stomach into a giant blender then proceeded turned it on', which I have to say is a pretty grim thought that I didn't know I didn't want in my head until now."

"Yeah, I can relate," Coco added. "Which is, somehow, a good thing." Neo glared daggers at her friend, prompting her to hold her hands up and defend herself. "Hey, all I was going to say was that if you're getting sick and feeling like someone's making a smoothie of your insides, then that sounds pretty similar to how I felt when we found out our pregnancy thing was going to work. And that's good. Until you take your tests - emphasis on the multiple use of 'test', I don't want a repeat of last time - then this is the only proof that you're pregnant."

Fox got up and hugged his wife, kissing the top of her head with a smile on her face. "I'm happy either way Neo. You're going to be an amazing Mom."

~ _And you'll be a Dad._ ~

"Not an 'amazing Dad' or an 'awesome Dad'? Just a Dad?" She nodded with a small smirk on her face. "Dude."

~ _I'm kidding, you big softie. You'll be an amazing Dad too.~_

"Yeah I will," he replied, a small amount of smug seeping through in his words. A much more genuine smile came through from the mute this time.

* * *

*Bing bong*

"I'll get it!" Yatsuhashi made his way from the kitchen to the front door, decked in a pair of dark grey jeans and a black and green checked shirt. Opening the door, he was greeted by Oakley and Yubae. The gentleman still looked good for his age, but the lines on his face were far more prominent than they'd ever been, and his brown hair was turning far greyer than he'd like it to. His wife looked far better in comparison; her face still adorned with the wrinkles of age but less so than Oakley. It was her hair that seemed to have been hit the hardest, and even that wasn't too terrible. What once was a head of naturally bright pink hair had now faded with age, turning into a dusky pink colour that showed her age but still kept the abnormality of her pink hair in the front of everyone's mind.

"Hi there Yatsuhashi," Yubae greeted. The giant hugged the pair as they came in, both of them family to the swordsman. "It's nice to see you again."

"Indeed it is. Everyone else is in the front, make yourselves at home." Sure enough, when they entered the front room they were greeted by a wide array people. There was Maggie (obviously), Coco's Dad Rodney, Velvet's Mom Taffeta and another three of her daughters; Lily-Cooke, now 10 years old; Harriet, who spent a lot of the time messaging her brand new boyfriend on her Scroll; and Briar, the oldest of the current generation of Scarlatinas who had two kids of her own at Lily-Cooke's age. There was also Fox's Mom and Dad, Inbar and Cyprus Alistair, the rest of Team CFVYN and the girl of the hour.

Sitting in her chair, smiling and waving her arms around at the bright coloured balloon next to her, making happy noises all the while, was the birthday girl.

"Hi everyone," Oakley called out. A few people turned to greet them, including their own daughter. "How are you, my flower?"

{" _Ripe as rain Dad, thanks for asking. What about you, did you get down here alright?_ "}

"We did dear," her Mother answered, "the flight was only delayed by a few minutes, and collecting our things this end was an annoyance, but we're here now. Now, where's my spiritual Granddaughter?"

In a very similar vein that all of CFVYN felt that Clementine was their collective child, with Coco and Velvet being the legitimate parents of her, the team's families all extended that tradition themselves. So where Taffeta and Rodney had an actual granddaughter, Yubae and Oakley, along with Cyprus and Inbar had themselves a Granddaughter in spirit. At least, for the moment.

"Hello my little sweetie." The child made happy noises again as Granny Yubae came close and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, her Faunus ears moving about as she did so.

"Now that everyone's here," Coco announced, "we can get started."

The group of adults all sat around and talked about what had been going on in their lives since last they were all together, with revelations coming around such as Harriet's boyfriend, even though she wasn't trying to keep that a secret with her constant messaging whilst she was there, and the fact that Dolly had been taken ill a few weeks ago with a nasty virus that somehow stemmed from certain Dust related products, but she was supposedly making a recovery in hospital back in Atlas and the true origins of her ailment were being explored.

All the while, Lily-Cooke was playing with Clementine, keeping her occupied and distracted from the very large number of adults surrounding her. Taffeta was not only overjoyed to see her Granddaughter enjoying herself and be spoilt on her first birthday, but to also see her youngest daughter falling into the role of cool young Auntie really well.

When six o'clock rolled around, Clementine looked just about ready to fall asleep where she sat after opening all her presents, and Neo's parents were thinking about leaving to head home as well.

{" _Why didn't you stay down here for the night?_ "}

"We did debate doing so, but your Father and I aren't as young as we used to be, and we don't have as much income as we once did either. The flights here and back are more than enough on their own, coupled with a night in a hotel or something and we thought that the best option for us was to make the round trip in a day."

"We could have very easily accommodated," Fox informed them, "it wouldn't have been that much of a trouble."

"I know darling, but we do try our best where we can and sadly this time wasn't such a time." Neo slightly downcast expression as well as Fox's reluctant acceptance of their reasoning prompted the dusky pink haired woman to bring the couple in for a hug. "Our love for you has never faded, for either of you, so don't think that this is a complete testament to that. You're our daughter, and our son-in-law."

"We know, Yubae. Thank you. But, before you go, would you mind holding off for like… a few more minutes?" The husband smiled as his In-laws both accepted his request and returned to their seats as the younger couple made their way to the front of the gathering.

~ _You got it with you?~_

~ _As if I'd forget something like that.~_

~ _You managed once before._ ~ She gave her husband a very serious look that made it painfully clear that he was walking on eggshells.

~ _You're lucky I'm not too far down the line, else that would have ended with either me in a bawling mess on the floor or you in a crumpled heap._ ~ He let out a small chuckle to himself.

~ _I would rather like to see our child into this world, so I'm going to get my share of jabs in at you until it becomes too much for you.~_

~ _Why not, I don't know, stop making jokes_ _ **now?**_ ~

~ _I could,_ ~ she scoffed, ~ _but where's the fun in that?_ ~ The tan skinned brawler got his extended family's attention with a forceful cough. "Thank you for coming. I hope that Clementine enjoyed her first of many birthday parties, because by the look of it," he gestured over to the little girl who was struggling to keep her eyes open for too long, Coco taking her cue to grab the little girl and cradle her whilst Fox finished his spiel, "she has most certainly tired herself out.

"Now, there is one present that has yet to have been opened, but this one is for me from Neo. Now, I knew what it was anyway, but you don't." A few people smiled at his playful nature, especially his own parents.

After a small bit of fiddling with the wrapping paper, there was a small pen box sized present. On opening it up, it revealed a pregnancy test. One with a nice healthy plus sign on it. "We thought we'd use this gathering to let you know that Neo is expecting our child."

The gathering burst into congratulations, going up to the couple and giving them hugs and praise as best they could with the number of people in the room. However Neo noticed that Maggie, whilst she heard a congratulations from her, didn't actually come up and wish them well in person, which miffed the mute. And having spotted her after everything had died down, the Arctic Fox Faunus looked far less cheerful than before, which saddened the mute.

After everyone had calmed down and people had left to begin their long journey home, all that remained were Team CFVYN, Clementine and Maggie. The boys were helping the two parents clean up the snacks from earlier as Clementine had been put to bed, which left Neo to speak with her friend alone.

**Neo:  
_Can we talk?_**

With a small laugh, Maggie responded, "Neo, I'm sitting right here, you don't have to message me." The ice cream woman sat down next to the fair haired Faunus, who at this point had been sat in the main room alone, staring out at the twilight creeping up on their part of the world outside.

**Got your attention though, didn't it?**

"Yeah…" she sighed. The smaller woman wasted no time in hugging her friend close at her lacklustre response.

 **What's eating you up?** The lack of a response made Neo want to prod more, but gone were the days of her being 'Silent Bad Cop' in interrogation scenarios. Her upbringing and the friendlier half of her adult life persuaded her to let the blue eyed girl next to her explain in her own time.

The silence between the two was broken by the first sniffle from the younger woman.

As the illusionist turned to see if she was alright, the sight of her friend with tears silently streaming down her face caused her eyes to blink vanilla white and for her soon-to-be maternal instincts to kick in. She eased an arm around her shoulders, inviting her in as a shoulder to cry on. The invitation was accepted without hesitation, and Maggie practically threw herself into her friend's chest and broke down.

~ _Fox?_ ~ Neo asked to her husband a room away.

~ _What's up?~_

~ _Can you bring in a couple of glasses of water and some tissues, then tell everyone else to leave us be for a while?_ ~ The man didn't answer. Neo knew that it meant he was going through with it right away, and sure enough the tan skinned brawler walked in with two glasses and a box of tissues in hand. He placed them down on the table and leaned over to give his wife a quick kiss on the forehead. She smiled in response as he left the room, Maggie either too distraught to notice him entering and leaving or noticing but paying him no mind.

In times like this, Neo honestly wished she could speak, even in the simplest of ways. She wouldn't say she hated the fact she was mute, but when she could be comforting her friend and giving her words of encouragement to just "let everything go" and "cry until you're ready to talk", she instead had to sit there silently rubbing circles on her back and playing with her hair and tail, doing anything she could to _physically_ to convey that she was there when she really wanted to express that _verbally._

Unfortunately, pregnancy hormones kicked in after five minutes of Maggie crying into her chest, the Faunus' weeps coming down into sniffles once again. Having watched her friend crying and being all emotional, Neo realised that she too was tearing up, and seeing Maggie look up at her with the remnants of her tears still in her eyes brought Neo into full on crying, which in turn brought Maggie's tears back in full force.

The crying couple continued crying until both of them had drained their tear ducts dry. They drank from their now lukewarm glasses of water, then settled down again on the couch. Neo's right arm was still snaked around Maggie's shoulder as the Faunus' head rested on her bosom.

Neo eventually managed to type out a simple, **Want to talk now, or are you going to cry again ;)** , a question that got a giggle from the Arctic Fox.

"No, I'll talk."

**Good, because I can't deal with you crying anymore**

Clearly she was joking, but Maggie faked a shocked gasp. "What sort of friend are you?"

**One that could blow your mind in more ways than you can count, but can't deal with emotions like that for shit, especially when I'm pregnant :D**

"Oh… so a best friend then?" she asked cheekily.

**Hell yeah**

**But seriously, what's eating at you?**

"It's… stupid. Nothing to worry about."

**People don't cry for nearly 10 minutes about nothing. Not convinced**

"Thought so…" she smiled, one that only lasted a split second, but it was enough. "I'm… I'm jealous." The tri coloured woman raised an eyebrow and cocked her head. "I'm jealous of what you and Fox have now. You're having a baby, and that's brilliant, but that could have been me. _I_ could be the one who announced that I was pregnant, and you would have been over the moon for me, and we would have gone looking for a cot and pram and everything together, all with it growing inside and I-" She was silenced with a kiss. Nothing sexually charged, nothing romantic, just a friendly kiss on the lips.

**I don't want to see you upset Mags. You're my best friend, I've shared more with you than many best friends can claim they've shared with theirs.**

"What, like bodily fluids and your man?" Not writing a response, Neo just winked and shot a single finger gun at her.

**There's not a lot I can do to make you more active in our kid's birth and all that, but I want you to be involved with them so much. The kid deserves a little more love than what just Fox and I can give. Be a proper auntie, almost treat her as your own.**

"Are you sure?" the Faunus asked, slightly shocked at the proposition. "'cause let me tell you, your kid's going to be dressing up a _lot_ with me if they were my own."

**So long as you do too so that they're not alone** ** and ** **you take pictures, I don't mind. Fox might**

"Don't care," she affirmed, "you gave me permission, so I'm going to do it."

**When have I heard you say** ** that ** **before?**

"Hey! I was a fantastic dom that night, don't deny it. I bet you've never felt so powerless in your life, having something as amazing as me making you her personal plaything for the night." Neo paused for thought, wobbling her hand side to side; Universal Sign Language for "So-so". "I know you're toying with me; you've admitted it yourself only me and Fox have ever been dom to you."

 **Got me there ;)** The women giggled, letting their sadness fade away as they continued to talk for a few more hours on whatever topic came to mind. Eventually, Maggie did leave to go home, but not without Neo giving her one last hug out the door.

"Thanks again Neo."

**No worries. It's what girl friends do**

"Oh, so I'm your girlfriend, am I?" she inquired, posing ever so slightly for the woman at the door.

**Girl SPACE friend**

**But providing that Fox clears it up, I'm open for polyamory :***

"I was kidding."

 _I wasn't,_ she thought.

~ _"You weren't" what?_ ~ Fox asked from the kitchen.

~ _Later.~_

"But seriously, I can't think you enough. I don't know what I'd do without you."

**Well I know I wouldn't be carrying around my kid without you, so let's call it even**

The Faunus rolled her carolina blue eyes, uttering a "Sure" as she did with a grin on her face. "Take care Neo." The mute waved her off as she got in her car and drove off back home. She smiled at the sight, knowing that she could keep making the Faunus happy even when everything else seemed to get her down. She quietly hoped that she was making Maggie as happy as Maggie made her, and if that was true then she could die in peace.

~ _Seriously, what was that conversation about?~_

~ _For fuck's sake Fox, I was having a moment!_ ~ she mentally chided him out of sight as she shut the door.


	24. Cooped Up, Alone, and Bored AF

Neo was bored.

She didn't want to be, nobody ever did, but that didn't stop the fact that she was really, _really_ bored.

As of right now, she was due to give birth in 10 weeks. That meant that, under Doctor's and Coco's direct orders, she had started her leave away from being a Huntress for a while until the baby was born, by which point she knew she wouldn't be bored if Clementine was anything to go by.

Speaking of, the tri coloured mother-to-be was babysitting the one and a half year old at home whilst the OG Team CFVY were out doing missions to get some extra incoming in for them all. And as much as she wanted to speak with someone, _anyone_ right now, Maggie was without her Scroll for a few days after an incident involving a balcony, a picturesque morning view and a loud noise - let's just say that Scrolls aren't very good at falling from heights onto concrete. And Coco was adamant that Neo refrained from calling any of them during the mission unless there was a real danger to her, Clementine's and/or the baby's life, less she'd have her stash of pregnancy ice cream raided. Ice cream became like a drug to the ballooning swordswoman; she had at least a scoop of it on every meal during the day, and more on things she really shouldn't have it on, like cereal or fruit.

Long story short, she was alone for the day without anyone to contact, hungry for something other than ice cream for once, and thus bored out of her mind.

She took a look at the clock on the wall and screamed in silent agony.

**09:49**

_Why does this day have to take so FUCKING LONG?!_ she cried. She'd been getting cramps in her legs while she slept for the past couple of nights now, but last night was the current peak of what she sadly felt like an ever-growing lot of pain.

On missions in the past - both with Huntsmen and with the criminals - she'd had slept in places that were ranging from uncomfortable to nigh impossible, but somehow she did manage to nod off each and every time, if only for an hour or two.

Last night, she got a grand total sleep time of 42 minutes.

The day before had been surprisingly hectic for her trying to arrange everything for when the pregnancy was upon them, especially considering she had to go and arrange it all in person due to her lack of voice to communicate over the phone. Coupling having to do all of that alone in her third trimester, she had to bring Clementine along with her for the ride, because it would be incredibly irresponsible for her to leave the very young child at home alone for hours on end with no one to feed, change her nappy or entertain her. It was safe to say that when she got home, she was so shattered that the only thing keeping he from falling asleep was the cries of a hungry and equally sleepy young Rabbit Faunus.

Once Clementine had been successfully fed, no small feat considering the child's tendency to throw her food around when it was something she disliked even slightly or when it wasn't either of her Mothers feeding her, she wouldn't sleep. Nothing too major, she just needed a soothing lullaby to send her off to the land of dreams.

Oh wait…

Neo was mute.

The pregnant woman managed to improvise, even under the sleepless conditions she was subjected to, by looking up videos on her Scroll of pre-recorded lullabies. As the singer on her video sang away (a voice the illusionist had to admit sounded an awful lot like Weiss - she'd have to chase her up on that), she was there rocking her crib gently to send her to sleep. She knew using videos wouldn't work forever, but as a short term solution to the problem at hand it worked perfectly. Well, perfectly until the add break in the middle of the melody. Times like that Neo wished she had no morals like her ex colleagues, because someone clearly had the bright idea to have an unskippable advert of a high octane, action packed, explosions and chaos everywhere video game placed in the middle of a compilation of _soothing lullabies._

 _I swear to Oum, I will find the asshole who thought that was a bright idea and subject him to his own personal hell,_ she vowed as Clementine broke from her state of near sleep into tears once again, banging her head against the side of the child's cot with a silent cry of her own.

She made another attempt to send the baby Faunus to sleep after crying herself at the previous failed attempt, only this time she came out the other end with a success.

 _I need something, else I won't sleep a wink._ So the mute, being naturally light on her feet, made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen without much thought of waking the sleeping baby upstairs. As she approached the fridge/freezer, she felt her own baby kicking.

 _You know where I'm going, don't you?_ she smiled at her child's antics. _What would I call you then? "Dairy"? No, that's too on the nose… Ooh, what about "Daenerys"? I could shorten that to "Daery", that's a little more subtle. But that logic, I could call you "Jill" - short for "Jillato"._ The tri coloured woman laughed at herself as she took a pot of yoghurt from the fridge, only to take a second to realise how silly that all sounded. _Now you're just being ridiculous Orchid; stop trying to decide the name of your unborn child whilst you're on a sleep deprived low. You need Fox to help with that too._ As she moved herself to the couch, she slumped down and opened her pot, thinking about the team. _I wonder how they're doing. They're probably doing alright, this is Team CFVY we're on about here. They were dealing with shit way above their pay grade even before I joined them, they'll be fine on any mission they're given._

* * *

*thwp*

"Red four," Coco droned.

*thwp*

"Green four," Yatsuhashi said.

"Bastard," Velvet cursed. She searched her hand for something else. Nothing. "Urgh." She took two cards.

*thwp*

"Green eight," went Fox.

"Oh that's not fair," Velvet moaned. Fox just grinned cheekily.

*thwp*

"Reverse it~," Coco sang. Fox grinned again.

*thwp*

"Miss a turn. You forgot to say 'Mono', take two."

"Piece of crap," Velvet groaned as she folded her arms in a sulk.

"Son of a bitch," Coco grumbled as she complied with the rules. "Yatsu, anything coming at all?" The tank leaned backwards slightly to peer out of the window they were sat near. The horizon showed absolutely zero Grimm.

"No."

"Dicks…"

*thwp*

"Pick two, Mono," he uttered.

"You saved me the trouble big guy…"

*thwp*

"…pick four, Fox."

"Hate to disappoint Coco, but…"

*thwp*

"…not with that in my hand. Pick _eight,_ Velvet. I choose blue."

"…I hate you all so much," she whined as she picked up eight cards. A distant roar could be heard from beyond the treeline as the Faunus' anger seeped through.

 _Finally, some Grimm to kill,_ the leader thought after nearly four hours of waiting. "Good. Because we're just going to keep on picking on you until we actually get some Grimm to kill, so get used to it."

* * *

_I have nothing to worry about._ But here she was, now satisfied as best as she could be with a single yoghurt, but now more awake than she was before she sat down to eat and without anyone to be around to help her get back to sleep other than Clementine, the person she'd spent the past half an hour or so trying to get to sleep herself.

The mother-to-be let her head fall back onto the headrest behind her as her baby kicked again. _Looks like it's you and me again little one. Come on, let's try and get some sleep._

That did not happen. Leg cramps throughout the night, a really weak bladder and no sleeping position on Remnant comfortable enough to keep her under for more than a minute or so were to thank for that. And that was further proven by the fact Neo was up at silly o'clock in the morning today, complaining about said lack of sleep, lack of food and a complete lack of company, all at-

_09:53?! Dear Gods, end this pain!_

* * *

Lunchtime managed to roll around far quicker once Neo found something to do with her time. Sure, most of what she was doing was cleaning, but feeling like "she weighed as much as a Balæna (a large, mostly passive (for a Grimm) Grimm Whale), only with half the beauty" the simple tasks seemed to drag on for much longer.

For lunch, or really any time Neo was eating with Clementine at the moment, she always tried to eat as healthily as she could. With no one else around, the young Faunus was looking up to her as a role model, and Coco made it pretty clear when her daughter was first born that if she found that her daughter was addicted to ice cream because of Neo's eating habits, things wouldn't end well for the pint sized swordswoman.

Taking that threat to heart - who wouldn't when it was Coco threatening you? - Neo was sat at the table with Clementine, both eating a nice healthy salad.

 _I know how much you like these things Clemmie,_ Neo said to herself as she sat down with the food, _so I don't expect any funny business._ She slipped on the headset she used for missions, having spoken to the new Mrs. Weiss Schnee-Rose about adding some new words and phrases to her headset. Weiss admitted that this wasn't in her field of expertise, especially with her and the rest of Team RWBY now back on the field for the foreseeable future, so she passed the request on over to her sister, Winter, who had more of a foot in that world.

The interactions Neo had with the elder Schnee child, though she really couldn't be called that anymore even if she was 1 year Neo's junior, were often very business-like. With Weiss, Neo had built up a friendship. With Winter, nothing of the sort happened. Though the Specialist did ask how her family was doing and how her pregnancy was coming along, she wasn't above making small talk from time to time, for the most part it was asking about what phrases she would like added to her headset.

Neo wished she could capture the moment she saw Winter's face after reading the list of phrases. It was beyond priceless.

* * *

"You do realise that I am going to have to explain why I need to add these to your headset," the snow haired military woman explained. Neo nodded in response, trying her hardest not to smile at the fact that the conversation between Winter and the team would be very entertaining to watch. "You know, Atlas Tech have been developing a new, artificial Voice Box for people like you." Her interest piqued, Neo raised an eyebrow and leaned in towards the camera on her Scroll a bit more.

"There are soldiers and Huntsmen like you who have lost the ability to speak during missions or on deployment, mostly at the hands of the enemy, but not always. Those who want to are taken away to surgery and have their old vocal cords and voice box replaced with artificial ones, ones that have been used for nearly three years now and are only improving by the day. As it stands, we have 6 people who have had this surgery in the Atlas Specialist Program alone. All of them have recovered so well that those who have joined after their recovery has finished didn't even know what happened until they asked about the scars."

 _I could speak again… I could talk with my friends, actually_ _ **talk**_ _to them for once in my life. I'd be normal again._ Clementine's crying from the room over broke her out of her trance, and without even acknowledging the Specialist, she got up as fast as her pregnant body allowed her.

The blue eyed woman on the other side of the call hummed at the sight. "Interesting…"

A lower ranking soldier entered the room, foregoing a salute and cutting straight to the subject at hand. _A rookie mistake,_ she observed with a subtle shake of her head, _how he managed to rise to Corporal like that I have no idea. Perhaps James is going soft._ She allowed herself to call the aging General by his first name in her head only - they had been close colleagues for long enough that it never felt like an abuse of their friendship; she only did so out loud when the situation was appropriate.

"Specialist Schnee, we have a-"

"Not yet, Corporal," she silenced him without even raising a hand or her voice. "I wish to discuss things further with my associate, and I may be some time still. And for the record _Callum_ ," the junior soldier physically flinched at the first name drop by his superior, "should you wish to address me again, you will do so with a knock at my door, and a salute when you are invited in. And even under scrutiny as you are now, you will remain with good posture and the stoic face you were trained to wear in situations like these." The Corporal registered her words of criticism, standing to attention immediately after she had finished speaking.

"My apologies Specialist Schnee, it won't happen again."

"Better. Now, would you like to repeat what you came in here to say?"

"No Ma'am, it can wait or be passed on."

"Very well. Is that all?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Good. You are dismissed Corporal Mitty, but consider what I said my first and only warning for you." He opted not to speak again, only saluting and seeing himself out. A message popped up on screen.

**You can be quite ruthless sometimes "Specialist Schnee"**

"I do hope you are not trying to mock me, because I could end this call now and you would be without your… upgrades entirely." Neo smirked slightly, but remained quiet on the matter from that point onward. "You seem to have a hold of things your end," Winter commented, now noticing that Clementine was sat in Neo's lap, being bounced on her knee with the young child smiling, "even without any speaking, you managed to calm her down significantly."

"Wise," she said, pointing at the image of Winter.

"I am not my sister," the fair haired woman mentioned to the child. The mute rolled her eyes as she typed something to her.

**First, Clementine can't understand you properly. Second, you have the same skin colour, eye colour, hair colour and even clothing colour scheme as your sister, so she's going to think your the same person. Especially over Scroll link. Roll with it until someone who can speak can explain it to her**

With the slightest of sighs, the soldier agreed to the terms presented. "I see now why you were after these upgrades to your headset. But what about that other offer?"

"No," she replied using the headset. She continued on as best she could using the device. "Too risky. Not enough time." Sadly, there weren't enough phrases to continue as she was - more reason to get the upgrades, so she finished with a typed message.

**And I would rather live my life as I am, as a mute, than have that in me. I feel like I lose part of myself if I go ahead with it.**

"I see. Then I cannot and will not try to deter or persuade you any longer."

 **Thank you. Besides, what harm is it to teach my baby and Clementine here some Sign Language? It'll come in handy further down the line.** The blue eyed woman on the other side of the screen smiled at the comment.

"I suppose you are right."

* * *

"Abul!" Clementine said as she picked up a slice.

"[ **Good girl!** ]" came the reply from Neo's headset. The child looked at her with a slightly confused look - she was used to Auntie Neo being silent - but smiled at the praise she recognised. _You're such an adorable little girl,_ she thought, _I can't wait for you to meet your cousin. You're going to be the best pair in the world, and nothing will stop you._ The child kicked in her Mother's tummy to prove that they heard her. _Ooh, you agree, do you? Let's see what Clementine thinks._ "[ **Clementine.** ] [ **Listen.** ] [ **Be careful!** ]"

Neo stood and lifted her top up to expose her belly, then stood next to Clementine's highchair. The young Faunus stopped chewing her apple slice and looked at the belly for a rather long time. Eventually, the unborn child kicked, and Clementine saw it slightly, cheering at the sight. _She likes it, little one._

In a move that shocked her, Clementine leaned closer and hugged Neo's tummy. She saw this and was instantly tearing up. _She_ _ **really**_ _like it._

* * *

"Thanks!" Coco called as the Bullhead pilot set the engines to max and lifted off once more to head back. "Alright, home stretch guys. The last one for a while for you Fox."

"Coco, we have 9 weeks to go. I can do a couple more before the birth, no need to cut me off now."

"I'll say it again, seeing as you probably have Grimm residue in your ears. This _is_ the _last one_ for a while for you." She grinned, both because she was enjoying her little tease at the man and at the face Fox was making, which to her looked like part annoyed, part scared out of his mind. "Did you catch it that time?"

"You know, I would have thought becoming a parent would have made you less terrifying, not more."

"What can I say?-"

"'Sorry' would be nice," he shot in as fast as he could.

"Look, I may be tired from having done a ten day mission with next to no action, but I can still beat you to the ground for being a back chatter."

"Or, we could all just get home, Coco and I can see our daughter, and we get some sleep in a nice, comfortable bed. I'd be up for that." Velvet was on a rather short leash at the moment, having spent a lot of the time they were waiting around getting more and more irritated at the rest of Team CFVY for picking on her whenever they played card games to pass the time. "Who's with me?"

"That sounds like a really good idea," Yatsuhashi mentioned, carrying his and also someone else's things from the Bullhead over his shoulder like it was nothing.

"There we are, the votes are in and we are going home!" The Faunus sped up to get to the car faster. "And you'd better hurry, because I'm the one with the keys, and it's a 2 hour walk home from here."

The team did manage to catch up to the irritable bunny, who by the time they'd pulled up in their driveway at about nine at night had mellowed down significantly.

"Huh, didn't expect the house to be dark at this hour," the Faunus mentioned as they got out and headed to the door, the light level fading but still being bright enough for no streetlamps to be illuminating their surroundings.

"Not that any of you would know from direct experience, but pregnancy is really draining on the body. She's probably called it a night and snuck up to bed, tired but not completely out of it. Let's do our best not to wake either of them." With nods of understanding from FVY, Coco lead the four of them in through the front door as stealthily as they were able. With Yatsuhashi with them she most certainly had her work cut out for her, but she persevered and got them all into the front room with no fuss.

"She's not downstairs at all," the bass said in hushed voice, knowing full well his voice carried far and that he didn't want to wake a sleeping Clementine, given the time it was.

"That's very odd." Everyone nodded at the tan skinned brawler's comment, Coco even having the idea to talk to Neo telepathically to see if she's around anywhere. "Good shout Coco."

"No, no shouting," she quipped back.

With a small tut, he began. ~ _Ni?_ ~

~…~

~ _Neo, sweetie, we're home._ ~

~…~

~ _Hello?_ ~

~…~

"She's not replying, so she might be out."

"Not with my baby girl at this hour she's not," the mage commented, her Mate agreeing with the sentiment.

"Shall we have a look upstairs first, then worry once we've given the whole house a once over?"

"Yatsu's got a point there."

"Of course I do, I'm the moral centre of the team." Everyone left their all belongings in the front room and silently made their way up to their bedrooms. The plan was to search around to find Neo and see if she'd left the house with Clementine in tow. Their first stop on their search was Coco and Velvet's room, for that still had Clementine's bed in at the moment. Walking in, they saw the room was bare.

"Well, that's not good."

"Yeah, no fucking kidding."

"Velvet," the leader chastised, "you're normally the one ribbing us for foul language."

"Sorry, but I'm still irked at what you all pulled on the mission and I walk into my room back home to find my daughter not in her bed. Forgive my potty mouth at a time like this."

"Sorry Cottontail, I was just trying to lighten the mood."

"Yeah, well-"

"Guys," Fox interrupted, "no need to lose your heads. I've found them both." The Mated pair followed the copper haired man back to his room and, on his request of a simple "shush", they peered inside the room. There, lying on the bed with Clementine snuggling close to her, was Neo. The young girl looked completely content with her current position, and her pregnant Auntie slept with a smile on her face.

"Dear Dust, she looked so peaceful." Velvet, having suppressed a very loud "Aww!" at the sight, took out her Scroll and snapped a few photos as best as she could with the minimal lighting they had on offer.

"Would you like to separate them?" the giant asked.

"Gods no! They're so happy where they are right now, I don't want anyone breaking that up. We'll sort this all out in the morning." And so the four original members of the team left the room, leaving the oldest, the youngest and the unborn members of their family in that bed, comfortable and happy.


	25. One Last Time With Him

There was a knock on the bedroom door, and Fox called to whoever was there that they could come in. "Hey Foxy boy."

"Hi Coco," he replied with a small grin, one that didn't last too long. It was late, and despite having gone upstairs hours ago Fox hadn't found it in him to fall asleep yet. The fashionista plonked herself down on the bed next to him, his wife sleeping as soundly as she could next to him. She was out like a light the second her head hit the pillow.

"How're you coping?" she asked. The honest answer was that he was panicking. Not a full on panic attack, but he felt like he was close. Within the next three weeks he was going to be with his wife in the hospital and she was going to have their baby. He, the boy who walked into Beacon with no sight and no hope of any kind to find anyone even remotely interested in him, was here with his wife by his side and their child in "her" womb ready to be born any day now.

But instead of admitting that to Coco (besides, she knew anyway - they'd been friends since Beacon, teammates just as long) he muttered a simply, "I'll manage."

There was a brief lull in communication between the two as the room returned to a natural state of silence. "This is the part I'd usually make a joke or call you out on that, but I think you're right." Resting her hand on his scarred shoulder, the caramel haired mother continued on. "You've grown so much from the scared blind kid I had under my wing on the first day, and admittedly for the first month, back at Beacon. You have matured… mostly, you have a wife and a kid on the way, you have your _sight;_ you are a completely different person to who you were when I first saw you. And yeah, you're still Fox Alistair, but you wouldn't recognise your 17 year old self.

"Do you really think so?"

"Of course I do," she answered. Once again, there was a perfect opportunity for sassing him, but doing so would ruin the moment, and right now he needed reassurance, not smartass comments. "I was the one person on the team, besides your wife after she first turned up, who had to keep an eye on you constantly. On all three of you, four when Neo showed up. And oh boy, did I hate it when that happened."

"Why? Frightened of a little competition were you?" the copper haired man teased.

Coco scoffed at the idea, causally and nonchalantly complimenting herself in the process. "Please, like anyone could stand up to me and my charm. No, I'm talking about paperwork." The woman shifted herself again, sitting much closer to Fox now as they were getting into a much more natural conversation than before. "I know you don't know this because we were never explicit about it at all, but team leaders had to write up an individual report for each member of their team at the end of each week. Every third week we used to go and speak to Professor Ozpin about the reports for missions, but also the ones for teammates."

"See I knew why you disappeared every third week, but I wasn't aware that you had to do things outside of those meetings."

"Stacks of the stuff. You think doing three of them is bad, imagine what I had to do when we suddenly became a five piece team. I had binders for each of you." With a brief shudder, she raised her left hand to about eye level, then dropped her right hand to be level with her abdomen. "They got this big sometimes, all on you. It was a monstrous task, especially with four of you, but I coped. In that time, I had to notice small behaviour differences, little things that would have normally gone unnoticed by someone simply glancing over it all. It was Ozpin's way of making us notice the smaller things and how they had an effect on the things at large."

"That's… kind of creepy when you think about it."

"Tell me about it. I had to do these things at night so none of you would notice, not because you would say anything if you did but because you weren't really allowed to know I was doing them. Don't ask me why, I'm not sure myself." The man raised an eyebrow at the answer given. Ozpin sure had a way of confusing them, even long after they'd left Beacon to live their own lives as Huntsmen and Huntresses.

"I don't want to mess this up." Fox glanced over to his side, seeing Neo sleeping beside him, her face not exactly peaceful, but somewhat content with how she was right now. "They both going to need me, and I don't want to mess it up."

"Trust me, I know the feeling. Sure, I was Mom in the situation, not Dad, but the unease was still present, even if I didn't show it. But Clementine is proof that we as a team can raise a child to be healthy and that we care too much to let anything happen to them. And little Clemmy will totally go into 'Big Sister Mode' when yours will be born. She'll have lots of support and love around her, we just-"

~ _Fox?_ ~

"Hold on a sec. Yeah hun?"

~ _I feel weird.~_

"You've been saying that a lot, it's probably a-" he was interrupted as she convulsed once and suddenly felt the mattress underneath them grow wet. "Oh fuck…"

* * *

"Velvet!"

"I know Fox, your wife is giving birth; I've dealt with the same! Now, kindly shut up, let me focus on driving and thank your lucky stars she decided to make her grand entrance this late in the day. If the way you're instructing me to drive happened with traffic around, I would have wanted it known that it was you signing our death warrants."

~ _Argh, this feels weird,_ ~ Neo commented with another contraction, ~ _like,_ _ **really**_ _weird. And it hurts._ ~

"I know hun, but it'll be fine. Velvet's nearly got us there, you'll be in a bed and you'll give birth and all the pain will be worth it."

"You don't have a clue what you're saying, do you?" the Faunus quipped from the driver's seat.

"…No."

"Then shush and comfort your wife."

"I was trying to do that!"

"Well try harder!" she shot back as she rounded a corner slightly faster than she should have.

~ _Stop fucking arguing and get me to the hospital!_ ~ The mute screamed again as there was another contraction, but no sound came through even now.

~ _Y'know, doctors are going to be really creeped out with someone giving birth in complete silence,_ ~ he commented mentally to her.

~ _I don't care about that; I want her out - she's really starting to hurt now.~_

"Alright, I'll see. Ve-"

The mage in the front cut the soon-to-be Father off before he even got her name out. "Don't you fucking dare! I will throw you out and you will walk to the hospital, get there late and have missed your own baby's birth. So do not ask me how far away we are, just be patient."

"…She said, 'shut up Fox', so I don't know how long it'll be."

~ _Well you're a big help, aren't you?_ ~ she said in jest before another contraction caused a silent cry of pain to come from the woman.

* * *

Once they arrived at the hospital, there was a doctor waiting by the door. Coco had called them up beforehand from their home and warned of her arrival, reminding the hospital staff that she was down for a mandatory caesarean which they acknowledged.

Velvet saw them in, but left Fox and Neo just inside.

"Do her proud," she said to him through a tight and loving hug, "and message us when she's here."

"I will do." The Rabbit placed a quick kiss on his cheek before he went to catch up with the doctors taking Neo away and she left to go home, get a bit of sleep in her (if she could with all the excitement around her), then bring Coco, Clementine and Yatsuhashi back with them to see the newborn.

Fox caught up and got there just as they approached the room for the surgery. The medical professionals were all spewing words and orders around each other that became nothing more than an unintelligible mess of noise that he tried to drown out. All he could focus on was Neo until she was carted through the door and Fox told to remain outside.

"Can't I go in there with her?" he asked to the nurse, a woman with shining silver hair, standing watch.

"Until we get you some surgery garbs, I'm afraid not sir. You can go in a little later, perhaps to cut the cord, but for now it's best if you wait out here." Not the most optimal of choices, but he complied with a nod and found a chair outside to sit in and wait. That lasted all of thirty seconds before Neo's voice rang in his head.

~ _Fox? Fox, where are you?~_

~ _It's okay Neo, I'm here. I'm just outside.~_

~ _Well, why aren't you_ _ **inside**_ _like you said you'd be? And you'd better answer quick, they're going to put me under soon.~_

~ _They said didn't have the garbs for me right now, but they'll find some soon and that I'll be in later._ ~ The pregnant pause [pun completely intended] left Fox worrying that she'd already been put under, but that worry soon faded once he heard noises from the room Neo was in. The worry was instead replaced when he heard people calling for her to stop thrashing. The copper haired boy jumped up and gazed in, seeing his wife reaching out towards the window.

~ _Come here Fox, please! Let me be with you when I go under._ ~ Not needing to be told twice, he shot into the room.

"It's alright Neo, it's alright. I'm here." Not really listening to what the doctors had to say right now, he grabbed her hand and held it tight, and with that her thrashing stopped on a dime. They realised, despite none of this being written down and recorded prior, that having her husband in here with her was probably the best option.

"Sir," one of the doctors said, "I need to ask you to grab some theatre garbs if you're going to remain in here." He indicated to the far wall where there were two green garbs identical to the ones currently being worn by everyone else.

~ _Won't be long,_ ~ he told his wife.

~ _Don't be,_ ~ she replied, ~ _if I go under and you're not holding my hand, I will kill you when I get the chance._ ~ He smiled at that, kissing her hand as she had another contraction. He wasn't smiling much anymore as the squeezing made a couple of joints pop in his fingers. Cradling his aching digits and informing the medical team of his wife's request (some asked how he knew, his response was "long story, no time"), he got dressed for the occasion and came back, all before Neo went under.

"Alright Mrs. Alistair, we're going to give you something now. You will feel drowsy, but let the sleep come. We'll bring you back once the surgery is over and move you to a maternity ward where we'll give you your baby." Neo nodded as they stuck a needle into her right arm.

~ _Oh, motherfucker!_ ~ the mute cursed, doing her best not to writhe at the pain. ~ _I'mma kill him once I'm on my feet again._ ~ Fox simply laughed.

"Is something the matter Mr. Alistair?"

"No, but my wife doesn't like you for doing that." The doctor nodded, then started the injection.

~ _Oh jeez, this does feel really weird._ ~ The drug was potent, as Neo's eyelids already started to feel extremely heavy. ~ _I'll be alright, won't I Fox?_ ~

"Of course, Ni. You'll be fine. Nothing bad is going to happen to you, not while I'm here." She smiled a weak smile, her body trying to pull her into a deep, comfortable sleep. "When you wake up, you'll have the best battle scar you could ask for, and a beautiful child waiting to see her Mommy. We'll live happily as a family." She didn't hear it all, the anaesthetic knocking her out before he could finish the sentence, but that didn't stop him from continuing on. He felt like he needed to.

"She'll be alright Mr. Alistair, we promise."

* * *

_Neo was startled awake, though she wasn't sure why. Her gasping breath echoing in the seemingly endless white void she woke up in. She glanced down at her attire, and saw herself clad in a pair of white pumps with equally white socks, some thigh length shorts (also white), a white t-shirt with a white jacket over the top akin to the jacket she wore in her combat attire, albeit with zero pink in its design at all._

_"_ _What?" Even her voice echoed. Where was she, and how on Remnant did she get here? She remembered being carted into hospital with contractions, which meant her child was on the-_

_Wait._

_Did she just speak?_

_"_ _Hello?" Her eyes widened in surprise. She most certainly did. "Hello." She chuckled. 'Dear Oum, I can hear myself chuckle.' She went through various different varieties, timbres, pitches and intensities of "hello", all because she wanted to experience it all. Speaking was such a distant yet familiar memory to her, and she never got a chance to say things._

_"_ _Hi, my name is Neo. Short for 'Neopolitan'. Long for 'Ni'." She laughed. Oh wow, her laugh was amazing. It was so much more mature than the last laugh she remembered having. It was the day before her Aura and the medication went to war in her body. Having recently been introduced to the fantastic series of films and TV programmes of Monty Python by Maggie, the ice cream woman spent the next 80 seconds saying her shortened nickname over and over again in the style of the Knights from one of their films. "Ni! Ni!"_

_Eventually she got bored, so moved on to say other things. "I like you. It's a date. I love you Fox. I do." She let out a soft sigh on the last one. She thought it was every girl's dream to say those words, and for her she_ _**definitely** _ _wanted that said._

_That was another thing, she hadn't said anyone's name in so long. "Fox Alistair, my husband and father to my child. The one person in this world I feel was made for me. Magnolia Frio, best friend, donor of my womb and fluffiest butt ever. Coco, Velvet and Clementine Scarlatina. The best three girls in the world. Yatsuhashi Daichi, the tallest man I know with an equally big heart."_

_"_ _Is there anyone else I should know about?" came a second voice in the void. Neo spun around, trying to pinpoint its location. She couldn't, for it seemingly had no origin. It came from everywhere and nowhere all at once._

_"_ _Okay, what is going on here?"_

_"_ _Oh my flower," the voice said again, with much more of a direction now - and it just so happened to be right in front of her, "I'm surprised at you. You were so smart." The voice grew outwards, finding a centre and making a body to accompany it. One she knew very well. "I know you still are, but I would have liked to have seen you figure this out sooner." Neo gasped._

_Staring into pink and brown eyes were eyes of piercing orange. A pair she recognised instantly. "Hello again flower."_

_"_ _Uncle Lang?" His body completed its materialisation, standing in front of her just as she remembered him from all those years ago. He stood with full hair, a strong face and eyes that glowed with light and life instead of the body he'd died with, dressed in a white version of his usual suited attire. "Am… am I dead?"_

_The man laughed at the thought. "No my dear, you're not dead. You're medically under. You can be dead if you want, just come with me and we'll leave this place, but in doing so you will pass from the mortal realm as well."_

_"_ _Mortal realm? What are you on about Lang?"_

_"_ _Right, how silly of me. This place, where we are right now, is known as the World of Void."_

_~void~_

_~void~_

_Neo stared at the space around her as the final word echoed ominously._

_"_ _The world in here works differently to what we're used to. Time progresses how we want it to, but we do not have complete control over it."_

_"_ _Okay, but how do I get out?"_

_"_ _Orchid," the weird Lang sighed, "you can leave whenever you'd like. Just take the gateway over there." He pointed to the side and Neo saw a door, simple in design but completely white, a detail that no longer surprised her. The woman began making her way towards it, stopping just short. She was unsure what compelled her to do so, but following what her instincts said next she ran back to her late Uncle and caught him in the largest hug she could muster._

_"_ _I miss you so much Uncle Lang."_

_"_ _And I miss you, my little flower."_

_"_ _I still think about you every day."_

_"_ _So I see," he chuckled. "Your family were truly beautiful to come with you to see me last time you were in Atlas."_

_"_ _You saw that?"_

_He simply nodded. "I could not find words in the lack of time in here to express how proud I am of you Orchid."_

_"_ _Thank you."_

_"_ _It was my pleasure. Now, we can continue to talk if you so want to, or I can let you get on your way and see your daughter."_

_"_ _Why is that an option? You said that there's no time in here didn't you?" The ex-Butler smiled._

_"_ _There's the smart cookie I know and love." As he ruffled her tri coloured hair, the pair walked away from the door slightly, finding a pair of chairs and a table. "Now, where do you want to start?"_

_"_ _I don't see why I need to tell you; you saw everything."_

_"_ _Yes, but let's pretend that factor is null and void for the mo-"_

_~void~_

_~void~_

_"_ _Does it always do that?" Neo asked._

_"_ _Yeah. But only if you say the word 'void'."_

_~void~_

_~void~_

_"_ _Well, if we're not counting your ability to see whatever I did, I suppose I ought to… wait… did you see_ _**everything** _ _I've done?"_

_"_ _I wasn't going to mention it, but yes. I did not watch, if that's what you mean, but I knew when you were doing it."_

_"_ _Okay, in order for me to keep my sanity, we are going to avoid that subject complete-"_

_~void~_

_~void~_

_"_ _...why?" she huffed in frustration. Her uncle simply laughed it off._

_The pair talked for a long time, starting with what she and Fox did with the money he left them after he passed, moving on to her first year at Beacon, which was also her second and third year as well - a feat the older of the two couldn't scoff at and was frankly incredibly impressed at how she managed, especially hearing about it from a first-person perspective as opposed to viewing it from an outsider's perspective - and even on to the team's Fourth and final year at Beacon._

_After the conversation topic had moved onto what Fox and Neo were going to do with their rings, meaning that Neo had caught her uncle up on everything in the two years since he died, a woman came along and left some drinks with them on the table, along with a tray._

_"_ _Ruby?!" Neo uttered as she saw the face of the cloaked woman. Honestly, she thought that it was Ruby sheerly from the fashion taste in cloaks, the silver eyes and the hair style, but on further inspection she deduced that it couldn't be - her eyes carried extra years of knowledge, her smile less childish and more maternal, her cloak a brilliant white instead of sharing the colour of Ruby's namesake._

_"_ _You know my daughter?" the woman asked. She was much more soft-spoken than her young doppelgänger, and far more relaxed than the scythe wielder could ever hope to be, even at 24 with her wife calming her every urge._

_"_ _Yes, she's a lovely young woman, with a beautiful wife in Weiss Schnee. You would be proud of what she's become, and of what she's accomplished."_

_"_ _Oh, I am." The cloaked woman wandered off and turned into nothing, leaving the relatives to continue talking with their drinks and a batch of cookies that appeared to be freshly baked, though from where Neo didn't know._

_"_ _Uncle Lang?"_

_"_ _Yes sweetie?"_

_"_ _Why is Ruby's Mom here?" The man arched an eyebrow at the question. "I thought this was a place where only we existed."_

_"_ _Oh no my child, not at all. The World of Void…"_

_~void~_

_~void~_

_"…_ _there it is, is a place where many of the dead roam. Each soul has their own little pocket space that we can move about freely in and enter and exit each other's as easy as stepping into an open tent."_

_"_ _So I_ _**am** _ _dead."_

_"_ _No flower, you're not dead. This place is vast, nigh infinite, but it still is not final. Think of this as a waiting room for the souls. The dead may come in and visit anyone who enters, like myself coming to visit you for example. But there is a world beyond this, one of the dead, where we both reside. Summer has always been motherly and loving, even before she had Ruby when she was alive, from what she told me, and does this," he gestured out to the cookies, "whenever someone enters the World of Void for a long-"_

_~void~_

_~void~_

_"…_ _I'm still not used to that. For a long period of time. We had a connection in the sense that she grew up putting others first, as did I. We both lived in a family with a little girl who was not our own, but we cherished as if she was." He stroked her cheek as he said that. "Summer always wanted what was best for her girls, and I want the same for you."_

_"_ _Uncle Lang…" Resting her hand on his own, holding it there as long as she could without a tearful expression, until she eventually removed it._

_"_ _If you want to stay longer, you can."_

_"_ _I do want to, but I fear I may have been here for too long. I know you said that there's no time in here, but I feel like I have overstayed my welcome."_

_"_ _Nonsense, but I see your point." He offered her another cookie, which she took and bit into as they stood and headed towards the exit._

_"_ _Will I remember this?" she asked as the gateway to real world grew closer, the sounds of reality seeping through into the white space as nothing more than faint muffled background noise._

_"_ _If you want to remember it, then you shall. Otherwise, you can pass this off as a dream."_

_"_ _But I do want to remember it. Seeing you again, saying goodbye properly, I want to remember this for the rest of my life."_

_"_ _Then you will, because you want to." They embraced, the soon-to-be mother pouring as much love into the hug as she could. "I will miss you, Orchid."_

_"_ _I'm going to miss you too Uncle Lang." They broke apart for the last time, then Neo turned and walked towards the exit. Opening the door lead to a space of darkness, striking a harsh contrast against a world of white, and stealing one last glance backwards at her uncle, stepped inside. Once the door was shut, she felt herself disappear._

* * *

"…eo, come o… …o wake up. I …omised I'd be by your side when you did."

~ _And you've done a brilliant job,_ ~ she thought, signalling to him that she was conscious once more.

"Welcome back to the land of the living sweetie," he greeted with a soft smile. "How you feeling?"

~ _I'll tell you once I know how long I was out for._ ~

"About 30 minutes. They moved you after the operation so that you'd come back in a comfortable bed rather than on an operating table."

~ _That was considerate. So yeah, I feel great._ ~ She started to lean up to kiss him, and taking the hint he closed most of the distance and let their lips meet. ~ _I saw Uncle Lang._ ~

"What do you mean?"

~ _When I was unconscious, I went into this weird place that was completely white. I could speak, and I saw Uncle Lang and even Ruby's Mom. She even baked us cookies, and they were so good. Uncle Lang and I talked for hours before I came back._ ~ The copper haired father simply smiled, not wanting to deny this but equally not 100% convinced he should accept this either.

Neo flexed and stretched her muscles, but stopped when she heard the distinct sound of paper crinkling in her hand. Fox assured her that no one had entered of left the room in the entire time he's been here since she left the operating theatre, so there was no way anyone could have put that there without him knowing. When she opened it up, her eyes widened in surprise as out fell two cookies, still fresh and warm as if just baked, and a note.

 **I shouldn't be doing this, but it's something to remember us both by**  
Congratulations on the wedding and the birth  
Love,  
Summer Rose and Uncle Lang

Neo took a bite of one of the cookies, and it tasted exactly like the ones she had earlier. ~ _Convinced now?~_

"Yeah, that'll do it." Neo read it through again, then saw the word 'birth' and remembered why they were here in the first place.

~ _The baby! Fox, where's the baby?~_

"She's just next door, don't worry. I'll ask if they can bring her in. After all the hard work you've done, it'd be nice to see the reward." With a silent sigh of relief, Fox got up and went to get the midwife from next door, kissing his wife before he did so.

~ _Thank you Uncle Lang,_ ~ she thought to herself, knowing that Fox could hear her talking, but honestly not caring, ~ _for helping make this the best day I could ever ask for._ ~ And although she couldn't see him, she could tell that he was smiling down on her as his way of saying 'thank you'.


	26. Epilogue: Ice Cream Treats

Being the lovely sunny summer's day that it was in Vale, and with the kids off for the holidays and Teams CFVYN and RWBY plus Maggie all off work at the same time, the adults planned a big outing together with the children.

Both teams only grew stronger as the time moved on, not only as Huntsmen and Huntresses, but as parents too. Team RWBY moved up to an S Tier Team having graduated as A Tier, thanks in no small part to the fact that Ozpin had them fulfilling various different missions surrounding the Relics and Salem that were far above and beyond the call of duty for normal Huntresses. Once they were all completed and the threat of Salem was finally ended once and for all, Ozpin reinstated them into the system at the top of the pickings.

No one seemed to mind, or if they did, they did a very good job at keeping their feelings hidden. This _was_ the team that took down the person in charge of the Army of Darkness that was the Grimm, so they had some room to play that everyone else didn't. Although the threat would never truly disappear, so the soulless creatures still roamed Remnant en masse.

Yang and Blake did as they said they would and adopted a child. It was much later in their lives than they wanted or expected, but they adapted and adopted older than the original plan. Their child was a young Faunus boy named Tymber, a name they regularly shortened to Tym for ease.

The little Snow Leopard Faunus, with soft spotted fur coating the wrist right up to the knuckle of the then-four year old boy, took an immediate liking to his Faunus Foster Mom because of their shared instincts and slight aversion to water, and he also really liked his other Foster Mom because she was strong and brave, but also because she really liked music like he did.

Blake, being the more poetic of the two, saw how his name was so fitting with everything surrounding them - he was like a piece of timber, a building block to make the lives of the Mated couple fuller than before. And in turn, they would be the craftswomen who shaped their little Tymber into his own person. And as a bonus, he really liked music, so he was just a swapped letter away from being likened to timbre. Yang had little to no musical theory knowledge, so she didn't appreciate the joke. Neither did Ruby. Weiss did though, so Blake laughed with the ex-Heiress.

Speaking of Weiss, she and Ruby also had a child that they named Osiria Schnee-Rose, who they conceived through artificial insemination rather than the classic way, with Ruby carrying the child. Weiss was thankful for her wife's insistence on being the one to carry, not only because for four straight months Ruby's insatiable appetite could be justified by her cravings during the pregnancy, but it also meant that she slowed down considerably. Weiss could breathe without having a hyperactive redhead zooming hither and thither around her.

The trade-off was that she had to deal with a screaming child _and_ Ruby when the baby was born, but it seemed that the birth brought out a mature side to Ruby that she had seldom seen before. She acted as an adult and parent should, and the platinum haired beauty thanked whichever of the Gods would listen for the sudden growth in maturity from her once immature partner-turned-girlfriend-turned-wife.

Clementine was the oldest out of all the children. At approaching nine years old, she was older than her spiritual sister Zinnia Alistair who was seven and a half, Tymber Belladonna now being eight, the youngest, Osiria, at five, and even Maggie's eight and a half year old adopted daughter, Gemma Frio.

Gemma was a slight spur of the moment thing for Maggie. She was lonely, and one night she determined that she would not let a child go through the same loneliness as her, even if the circumstances were different for the two. The next days for the Faunus were spent making her room in the apartment immaculate and liveable for two. And after three visits from two different social workers to survey and assess the place, they determined that a child could live there safely.

Gemma met Maggie two weeks later, and the paperwork was finalised a week after that.

Much to her initial horror, Maggie discovered that Gemma was Faunus. Specifically, a Salamander Faunus. More specifically, a Leucistic Axolotl Faunus. It wasn't the idea that frightened her, but more of the circumstances of which she found out.

When she was in care, the other children bullied her so much about her bright red gills on her jaw and upper neck that she cut them off when she was nearly six with a pair of scissors. But, being an Axolotl Faunus, those things didn't scar, they regrew to full size again really quickly. So the process was constant every few weeks; see her gills had become noticeable and impossible to hide, cut them off, have a week (at most two) of peace from the bullying, rinse and repeat.

When Gemma was finally adopted and moved in with Maggie, she had been cutting her gills for a few months and had cut them two days before just so that all the blood was gone, and she looked like a regular young girl with pale skin and natural maroon hair when she moved in. After three weeks, Maggie heard crying in the middle of the night and, when following the sounds, lead her to discover Gemma in the bathroom with a pair of bloodied scissors and two of her gills lopped off by her own hand, blood coating the once porcelain white sink and dulled metal blades, her deep brown eyes spilling with tears of pain and now fear at seeing her new Mom looking at her as she did.

Maggie vowed to the girl that whatever happened back at the orphanage has no effect on her here, that she is loved for who she is and not who she was made to be or look like. She also had some serious words for the staff at the orphanage, who failed to mention anything about Gemma's heritage in any of the meetings they had with her, or even include it on the paperwork. The year since then has been nothing but positive for the young Faunus, and Maggie even felt like she had accomplished something extraordinary by letting the little Axolotl girl be herself, even around her Mom's friends and family in Team CFVYN.

Gemma and Blake had a few in-depth talks about what she did as well so that the girl knew that what she did, whilst extreme, wasn't uncommon, but equally not the right thing to do. Well, as in-depth as you could get with a girl of that age.

All of them had met each other in Upper Vale, a place within a much more reasonable distance to the main airport than where either CFVYN, Maggie or Blake and Yang lived, that meant as little travelling between there for the Schnee-Rose parents and child as possible, and a sizable park area where the kids could run around and play whilst the adults all sat and talked somewhere where the kids could still be seen.

"It's nice to see them all getting along," Blake mentioned, sitting on the freshly mowed field with only a picnic blanket separating her ass from the grass, "I was always worried Tym wouldn't fit in with a bunch of girls." The onyx haired bookworm wore a wide brimmed hat and a pair of sunglasses along with a simple knee length summer dress and sandals, and was naturally looking out at the children playing over a book of hers.

"Hey, if Vomit Boy can live with seven sisters, our Tym can handle four girls," Yang replied with confidence. Sporting a low cut t-shirt and shorts, time had barely touched the 33 year old blonde at all. Save a few lines on her face and a shining new arm courtesy of the Atlas Military from an incident with Adam Taurus, she and her Mate hadn't aged a day since their defeat of Salem.

{" _And he's the middle of the road like Jaune sort of is too,_ "} Neo, clad in a pink summer top, beige trousers rolled up to sit near mid shin and slightly platformed sandals with her hair up in a neat centred ponytail, pointed out, {" _he's got Gemma and Clementine to look up to, and Osiria and Zinnia to look after._ "}

"What's up, Pintsize? Is life as the eldest starting to catch up on you?" If looks could kill, Yang would be dead a hundred times over. She wasn't wrong though; Neo was 41 a few weeks ago.

{" _Drop dead, Sunshine._ "}

"No killing each other," Fox butted in, the tanned and scarred father of Zinnia wearing a black short sleeved casual shirt, a pair of slip on trainers in a deep grey and some chino shorts in a plum colour. "One of you two is going to need to save me when the munchkins attack me." He and Ruby, naturally wearing her cloak even in the 24℃ Vale weather but also a lighter - in both colour and material - version of her regular combat attire, were tasked with keeping the children busy whilst the rest of the adults talked. Fox didn't mind, especially with his hair cut much shorter than he'd had it before, and Ruby was "practically a child anyway" - her wife's words.

~ _I can't promise it'll be me.~_

~ _Figures,_ ~ he admitted before taking off in a jog to join the five young kids in the field.

"Tymber is doing a grand job Yang," Weiss commented, "you and Blake have done a marvellous job at raising him right."

"Only because you would have killed us if we hadn't."

"Oh please, like _I_ would have done the deed… I would have gotten Osiria to do it."

"Okay, I take back all previous retractions of this statement, you really _are_ the Ice Queen. You'd let your five year old kill for you?" Weiss wasn't fazed by the name, a worrying thing for those who knew her.

"I'd only want her to do it so that the last thing you'd see was my precious little angel summoning the sword to slay you, and you say 'Wow, Osiria is so amazing! I can't believe she- _bleh!_ I'm dead.'"

"Your kid can summon?!" Coco almost bellowed in disbelief, removing her ever present sunglasses and slotting them into the pocket of her black and white dungaree dress.

"Yes, she can," came the smug reply.

"Wasn't the first time you properly summoned back at Beacon after a long time of stressing yourself out about it, only to do it when you dropped the 'calm and collected' persona and went to the 'get shit done' one?" The platinum haired woman looked around to see if any of the kids heard her, which hopefully they didn't over their screams and cries of glee, then addressed the fashion loving woman's question.

"Yes, that's true. But Osiria is so much more in touch with her emotions than I or even Winter was, so it came about far easier than expected."

"I'm not shocked at that," Yang said, "I've been on your team long enough to know you properly. But I am surprised at the things you said. You sounded just like Ruby does when she tells a story." The speed of which the Schnee's face went from pale to beet red was astounding, and the incoherent stuttering she offered as a response only made everyone laugh more.

"I don't see the problem," she finally managed to get out, "that happens with you and Blake all the time."

"True," the Faunus admitted, pulling down her dress to expose her shoulder and thus her Mate's Mark, "but at least we have a genuine reason for us to act like the other. You, on the other hand, are only married to Ruby, yet you've taken on her story-telling mannerisms."

"It's not my fault that all I had in terms of storytelling experiences when I was younger was Klein occasionally coming in to read me to sleep when I was four. Ruby and Osiria are helping me make up for that time that I missed out on."

{" _I don't think I ever told you this, but seeing Ruby in 'Mom-mode' makes me think of when I saw Summer in that weird dream I had as Zinnia was being born._ "} Naturally, Neo told her team and Maggie the truth, but opted to leave everyone else out of the loop.

"I'm with you on that one," Yang mentioned, staring out at her younger sister playing with the five kids in the field. "Ruby may not really remember her, but she really has turned into a mini Summer, a true Super Mom." A small smirk graced the brawler's face. "Except in the baking department."

"Urgh, don't get me started." The other adults laughed at the show of distaste on the snow haired woman's face at the mere mention of Ruby's baking skills. It wasn't atrocious by any standard, but there was a lot to be desired after one of her more recent cooking escapades to name only one incident.

"Mommy!" Clementine said, bounding over to the adults, her bunny ears flapping about in the wind along with her long mousy brown hair. She was walking up holding hands with Osiria, so the adults could take a rough guess that what they wanted involved one or both of them.

"What's up sweetie?" The young Faunus, sporting a pair of purple rimmed sunglasses, got sheepish once she'd gotten Velvet's attention. Most of the adults not in Team CFVYN couldn't quite believe how alike little Clementine looked to her Mother, the only real difference between the two at her age were the two streaks of caramel coloured hair that went through her bangs on the left side. "Clem, you can talk to me."

"Do you have your weapon on you?"

"Clementine, what brought this on?" She did, obviously, have her weapon on her as it was one of the easiest to conceal next to Neo's concealed sword, Yang's left Gauntlet and her Mate's Gatling gun, so should anything happen whilst they were out there were at least a few of them armed to combat anything that tried.

"But do you?"

"Well… yeah, I do."

"See?" the nine year old mentioned to her youngest friend, "she has it. Now you can ask your question."

"Did you want to ask me something, little Osiria?" Despite normally boasting a lot of courage, even for a five year old surrounded by friends and family at least two years her senior, talking to and asking favours of people was still something she struggled with.

"Osiria, it's okay if you do-"

"I want you to take pictures of me!" the red and white haired little girl shot out, cutting off her mother's attempt at helping her daughter.

"Pictures?" the Faunus answered with a slight chuckle. The young girl hugged her right arm with her left (a nervous tick she got from her Schnee genes) and glanced away nodding her head quite furiously (just like Ruby did a lot as a teenager). "Oh Osiria, you don't need to be scared. Of course I'll take pictures of you."

"Really?!" she said with glee, all past worries gone. The Faunus mother of the eldest child nodded and grabbed her camera as the children ran back to the rest of their close friends and Fox, who was keeping Gemma, Tymber and his own daughter occupied.

The Rabbit Faunus leaned down to kiss her Mate on the forehead, but the woman still sitting lifted her head, making her wife's lips grace the tip of her nose. "Won't be long, Chocolate Drop."

"Take your time, Cottontail," Coco replied, "she seemed nervous, but also really eager. Indulge her to a point, she'll enjoy it." Velvet smiled in acknowledgement and made her way over to the group of children. "You wanna join them Yatsu?"

"I'll pass," he mentioned, still sat cross legged and shut eyed meditating on his own blanket, shorts and a muscle vest the only thing covering his body, a short, thick but well trimmed beard adorning his face now.

"Alright, what're we going to do?" Velvet asked, holding her camera as she got closer.

"Well, my Mommy says that you camera is like your weapon."

"And your Mommy would be correct," she answered, looking up and smiling at the red tipped brunette, who had grown her hair out a little longer since Osiria's birth, now looking nearly identical to Summer, "my camera _is_ my weapon. I take photos of weapons and their owners, and can mimic their actions perfectly."

"Do me! Do me!" the five year old chanted in glee, dashing to a wider space with a small flurry of red (and the odd white) rose petals. Osiria didn't have the super speed of her silver eyed mother, but when she ran fast enough she did occasionally leave behind a red and white path of petals in her wake. She shut her eyes and breathed through her diaphragm; palms splayed out facing the floor.

"Osiria, I wish I could, but you don't have a weapon on you, and I've never seen you fight, so I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Oh okay," she sighed, opening one silver eye to look at the Rabbit Faunus. "But what about his?" A glyph suddenly appeared on the grass just in front of the girl, and within a few seconds a large piece of armour made its way through the spinning Schnee emblem on the floor, standing tall over its summoner.

"Holy shit, you weren't kidding!" Coco cursed, rising to her feet to get a better look at the sudden appearance of the armoured knight in the field. Clementine - the only child with acute hearing due to Velvet's dominant Faunus genes - heard the curse, stared at her Mama and promptly grabbed her ears and folded them down on her head, wanting to not hear that sort of language again, because it was bad language and she shouldn't use it. Especially as she was the oldest of the five children and she needed to set the best example along with Gemma. Coco noticed and mentally berated herself for letting that one slip.

"I told you so," Weiss replied smugly, making her way over to Osiria and the rest of the children along with all the other adults.

"Wow… Osiria, that's amazing. When did you learn you could do that?"

"So not this Monday, and not last Monday, or the Monday before, but the Monday before _that,_ me and Tym were playing in Auntie Yang's and Aunt Blake's backyard and then I just… made this thing."

"You don't remember how you did this?" She bashfully shook her head. "Did Tym, maybe, do something to upset you?"

"Tym doesn't do that. Tym is the best cousin on all of Remnant!"

"Damn right," the Snow Leopard grinned.

"Language, Tymber!" Blake scolded. Despite sharing a lot of similarities with the bookworm of Team RWBY, Tymber was very much Yang's son in terms of mannerisms and behaviour. The Faunus child apologised immediately, his apple green eyes darting down to the floor in shame, so at least Blake had taught him that much.

"That doesn't mean he can't do things to annoy you," Velvet clarified. "My sisters, my wife, my team; all of them are the best that I could ask for, but that doesn't mean they can't annoy me." Neo signed something to everyone, but Osiria had not been taught as much Sign Language as the other four, so was the only person there who couldn't understand what she said. She raised her hand to ask something. "You don't need to raise your hand Osiria."

"Oh… What did Neo say? Was it about me?"

"No, she just said 'Velvet is right'." The summoning five year old raised an eyebrow in a very Weiss-like manner, looking at the mute for clarification. Neo nodded her head to tell the child that she did indeed say that.

"He… he kind of said that having no semblance didn't make me special, it just meant I wasn't grown up enough yet."

"Your cousin would have been right though Osiria," Ruby mentioned to her daughter, "semblances are manifestations of ourselves. They come to a head when we're old enough to truly need them. You very often stumble across your semblance by accident."

"But I didn't!" she announced proudly. Her mother chuckled back a "no, you didn't" in response. "I got annoyed at Tymber for saying that I didn't have a semblance, so I did what Mommy does and made my summon."

"Just like that?" her Auntie Yang asked. The little girl nodded proudly. "Does anyone want to explain to me how in the Maidens' names Osiria did that?"

"I summarised," Weiss began, "that Ruby had something to do with it." It was the cloaked woman's turn to look and feel smug now. "We Schnees had a… still _have_ a stigma against us that we are cold, heartless and cruel. And whilst Winter and myself do our best to shatter those stereotypes, both the males in my family seem to be focussed on that and are almost deliberately trying to adhere to the notion. But I digress; even though we did not want to listen to our heritage and tried to be different, having a Father like ours who forced us to bottle or alter our emotions when we were little made things much harder for us to break from that when we were older.

"You were right Coco, albeit crude, when you said that I only really summoned when I let go of everything having been so pent up on not doing it. When I let my emotions run free, I could summon so easily. Osiria has never had to do that." The child walked up to her Mother and wrapped her arms around her, Weiss kneeling down to make it easier for her to do so. "She's been in the presence of a Schnee, sure. But she's had Ruby to be there for her as well, and we all know Ruby doesn't like to keep emotions in like I do."

"Hey!"

"It's true though. Osiria's been brought up knowing that being vocal about how she feels is better than keeping it locked up inside, and that talking about it is better than not. So, by being as she is, she found summoning easier than any Schnee before her because she was in touch with the emotions we never really could express."

"That's really insightful and all," the buxom blonde mentioned, earning her a disapproving side eye from her rapier wielding relative, "but I thought you could only summon what you'd defeated. There's no way she could have defeated one of those knights at that age. No offence, Snow Cone."

"That's okay Auntie Yang!"

"Atta girl," the brawler responded, ruffling her niece's hair with her left, non-robotic arm and earning a giggle in response.

"I'm with Xiao Long; you've only summoned what you've killed. How's your kid done it?"

"Trust us Coco, we've been asking ourselves the same questions ever sin-"

"Active imagination." Ruby's sudden answer got raised eyebrows, particularly from her wife, but she explained everything fast enough to not get an earful from said wife. "I mean, you and Winter lived pretty cushy lives, with big balls and fancy outings and recitals and interacting with snobby businessmen and women. You had your life carved out for you, with a script to stick to. Your 'jobs' were to look good for your father. When did your sister first summon something?"

"When she was attending Atlas Military Camp. She was on a training exercise and summoned a Beowolf to her aid."

"Uh huh. And what about you?"

"Well, when Father found out after reading my letter from Winter, he demanded I never even attempted to do the same. Of course, I tried. But I never managed to summon at all."

"Until…?"

"…Until after our fight with Neo. I felt so helpless having not been able to summon anything to help us, and in my frustration afterwards I summoned a Boarbatusk."

"So Winter was how old?"

"19. Ruby where is this-"

"A-shu-shu-shush. I'm getting there. So you were both 19 when you first summoned, having only really opened up and been free from the Schnee snobby nature."

"…Yes."

"Osiria hasn't had that. She's got the carefree spirit of a Xiao Long, the loving nature of a Rose and the driven stubbornness of a Schnee in her blood. She has a proper childhood, and she imagined having something as amazing as a giant knight to fight by her side-"

"Yeah! Just like Uncle Jaune, only bigger and much cooler looking."

"I'm telling him you said that," the red reaper teased. Osiria's hands clamped to her mouth. "She wanted it, so she summoned it. Sure, it's rudimentary, but so's her imagination at the moment. When she gets older and refines it all, it'll all become perfect."

"I see someone's taken their Dad's teaching skills and put them to good use," Blake commented, hugging Yang's waist.

"If you're all up," Tymber butted in before anyone else could talk, "can we all play tag?"

"Yeah!" the other kids cried. Immediately there were a few of the adults who regretted leaving their seats, those being Weiss, the three Faunus parents and Yatsuhashi.

"I bet I could catch my Mommy all by myself," Zinnia, the rose gold haired daughter of Fox and Neo, claimed.

"Well I think I could catch your Mom and Momma Blake," Tymber counter claimed.

"Nobody can catch _my_ Mommy," Osiria stated, "my Mommy is the fastest person here."

"But Auntie Neo can teleport," Clementine mentioned.

"Girls, girls."

"Hey!"

"… and Tymber. Girls and Tymber. You're missing the point. The only person who can catch Blake is me."

"Oh Yang, how did you know?" the Faunus played, gently stroking her lovers face.

"I always have." They embraces and their faces met in a passionate kiss. All five of the children wretched and turned away in disgust at the sight of two people kissing.

{" _Quick, while they're all distracted,_ "} Neo signed, {" _run!_ "} The adults did, leaving their children behind. They soon realised and gave chase, with Gemma putting in the most effort in trying to catch them all. Neo, Blake, and even Ruby at times, all cheated by using their semblances, but much like their parents before them they weren't deterred and were willing to keep trying for as long as it would take.

As exhaustion and overheating took over, everyone made their way back to the shade and stocked up on water and nourishment. Unfortunately, living as far away as they did mean that the Schnee-Roses had to leave early to get home, despite offers from their far more local teammates to stay with them for the night. Eventually, Yang, Blake and Tymber had to leave as well, so Team CFVYN and kids headed off with Maggie and Gemma, the latter two parting at the cars.

Opting against a seven seater, the team were split on group journeys, with Yatsuhashi going with the older of the team's children and their parents, leaving the three Alistairs in the second car on their own.

"Did you have fun today Zinny?" her father asked from the front seat.

"I had an amazing time, thank you so much!" Zinnia often wore a lot of her father's colours - it made sense with her skin tone being much closer to his than her mother's. Today was no different. She wore a zip up hoodie vest in the same rusty orange colour her dad always wore back at Beacon, and sport shorts that sat mid-thigh in black, along with a pair of hi-top converse in the same colour as her hoodie.

"You're welcome sweetie." He turned and smiled at his daughter, her eyes shining bright and pink in the backseat, staring back at him; pink orbs of loving and adoration. "And well done for being the only person to tag Mommy."

~ _I let her catch me,~_ the tri coloured swordswoman admitted, slowing down at the intersection.

"Oh. She says she let you catch her."

"Yeah, because that's what Mommies and Daddies are supposed to do. Why didn't _you_ let me catch you?" Fox wished he could fault the mind and logic of his daughter, but she was already excelling at figuring out things, even at seven years old, and seeing a child pull that makes most people weary around telling her anything.

~ _Ni, you got any Ice Cream Parlours nearby?_ ~

~ _Why're you asking me?_ ~

~ _Well, 1) you're driving, and 2) we need to find one and you're the one with the ice cream fix.~_

~ _Am not!_ ~ she protested as she took a left instead of the usual right to head towards their home.

~ _Then where are we going Neo?~_

~ _Tom Williams' Parlour._ ~ The man in the car smirked. ~ _But we're going here because Zinnia likes it so much, and because it's closest to us, and it proves nothing._ ~

"Well Zinnia," Fox continued with his daughter, saving teasing his wife for later, "I didn't let you catch me because I said that I'd take you somewhere you wanted if you did."

"I didn't hear that…" she grumbled.

"Sorry, but I said it. And as I won, I get to pick wherever we go."

"Noooooo, but you pick the boring places to go…"

"Boring, huh?" he answered, entertaining her slight sulk. "Does 'Tom Williams' Ice Cream Parlour' sound boring to you?" The cry of "Yay!" from the backseat was a resounding no from the girl, so they continued on their course to the parlour. Fox messaged Coco to inform them they'd be home a little later because of a slight ice cream detour, and to not tell Clementine.

* * *

Tom Williams' Ice Cream Parlour was home to many weird and wonderful flavours. From the vanilla flavour of… well, _Vanilla_ , right up to crazy (yet still surprisingly tasty) combination of caramel and cinnamon in _Buns o' Cinnamon_ , the place had it all.

Maybe that's why Neo knew this place so well.

Walking in, the family was greeted to the oh so familiar sight of a yellow and blue decorated parlour. The walls had swirls that danced across entire sections of it, dividing the space in two with a thin wavy border of mint green. The tables weren't anything too fancy, just a booth with blue leather chairs and a white and yellow checkered tablecloths, and the view out onto the car park wasn't anything to write home about either.

But nobody came here for the view.

At the counter of the parlour along the left hand side as you enter was a giant glass case filled with all 40 flavours this small parlour sold. _Cookie Dough_ \- a certain leader's favourite, _Wafer Thin Bis-quit_ with small mint flakes inside, _Honeycomb Galore_ , _One Love_ \- a banana, caramel and cookie concoction with chocolate chips based around Rob Barley's song of the same name, _Where He At?_ \- another banana flavoured ice cream, only this time with peanut butter and jelly, _Chocolate Brown Fudgie_ ; the list expanded so much more than that.

Clementine ran up to the counter, but stopped herself from smashing her face against the glass when she remembered the sign that was posted right beside it.

**Do not tap or slam against the glass. Our ice cream is very tasty, but also very easily frightened. Doing so will make it scream and not taste as good. Thank you.**

And unfortunately for her, being at that impressionable age, the little girl believed it. Still, it kept the glass clean and the mystery up for the time being, so the adults played along.

{" _What are you feeling like having today Zinnia?_ "} her mother signed to her.

"I want your ice cream Mommy, but I can't pronounce it…"

" _My ice cream?_ " Her daughter pointing at the ice cream in question, trying to say it but only coming out with "Neep-oh-light-anne", just as Fox spoke to her in her head about it.

~ _Neapolitan._ ~

~ _Oh, of course. What is it with me today?_ ~

~ _Would you like me to say it was the heat, or your age?_ ~ he teased.

~ _Say it's my age, and I'll bring some of these plastic spoons home with us and castrate you with them while you sleep.~_ He stopped soon after that. {" _It's okay Zinnia,_ "} Neo assured, swapping back to sign language for her daughter, {" _I'll help you say it. Sound good?_ "}

"Yeah!"

"I'm sorry for this," Fox said to the gentleman behind the counter.

"No worries, there's no one else coming in, so take your time. I'll still be waiting when you're done." The off duty Huntsman nodded in appreciation.

{" _Alright, we're going to go through this one syllable at a time._ "} Zinnia nodded, her rose gold hair shining under the artificial light of the parlour, barely touching the shoulders of her top. Often when teaching a new word, particularly in situations like this where the word was sizable, Neo resorted to charades to help make it more engaging for Zinnia. Nine times out of ten, it worked. {" _First syllable:_ "} she pointed to her leg joint.

"Knee!" A thumbs up told the child she was right.

{" _Second:_ "} she held her right hand up in a closed fist, her knuckles facing behind her.

"Ay!"

{" _Almost. What other sound can you make with that letter?_ "}

After a couple of 'um's and 'er's, Zinnia remembered "Ah!"

" _Well done._ "

"Knee-ah."

{" _Third syllable:_ "} Neo pointed at the thin metal structure holding up some of the building (though it was mostly aesthetic, the real supports came from the wall dividers).

"Post?"

{" _Not post. What's another word for a post?_ "}

"Um… pole?" The mute grinned, touching her nose and pointing, indicating a correct answer. "Pole! Knee-ah-pole."

{" _Alright, for the fourth syllable, it's the same as the game you played earlier with everybody at the park._ "}

"It?"

{" _It, exactly._ "}

"Knee-ah-pole-it."

{" _Add the last two letters as you would say them normally together._ "}

"An."

{" _All together, you get?_ "}

"Knee-ah-pole-it-an." The ice cream themed girl grinned from ear to ear on hearing her say it.

{" _Well done Zinnia! That's almost how you pronounce it perfectly, but you'll pick up the correct way soon enough, and people will understand you if you say it your way._ "}

The girl went up to the counter and, without wanting to let her nerves get the better of her, quickly shot out, "please may I have a Knee-ah-pole-it-an Ice Cream Cone?"

"One _Neapolitan_ coming up."

"Neapolitan?" the child parroted, staring at the name and trying to read it again knowing how it sounds like. "Oh, because there's no E after the P O L, so it makes it 'pol' instead of 'pole'."

"You got it," her Dad said, a great big smile on his face.

"Right, so that's one _Neapolitan_ for the lovely young lady." He handed over the cone, much to the girl's delight.

"Go find a table, we'll be over in a just a minute and we'll eat outside. Okay?" Zinnia took off to find the perfect seat as her Mom and Dad ordered. "I'll have the _Choccy Woccy Doo Dah,_ " Fox heard Zinnia giggle from behind him, mostly at the name of the ice cream. He couldn't help it that Tom Williams had a penchant for giving their products names as weird as their flavour combos, and the _Choccy Woccy Doo Dah_ was really good despite the embarrassing name, "and my wife will have the… _Solitas Strüdel_ please."

"That'll be 530 Lien please." Fox handed over a card, got the ice creams in return, and headed to where their daughter was sat. She'd chosen a table near the middle, where instead of the leather chairs in a booth it was a taller table with similar coloured stools.

{" _Nice table choice Zinnia,_ "} her mother signed before she ushered Zinnia to stand and head outside, and was handed her cone by Fox.

"Thank you Mommy!" she replied, her face a mess of pink and white ice cream. Fox couldn't help but chuckle as his wife wiped some residue food away from their daughter's face.

"You're such a mucky pup," he mentioned, "we could probably sell back what you leave over your face and make another ice cream."

"I'm not that mucky, I'm just excited to be eating ice cream."

{" _Trust me, I was the same when I was younger. Once I'd heard of ice cream, especially Neapolitan, I couldn't get enough. It was always a big treat to come to somewhere like here, and you should treat it as such, too._ "} Zinnia nodded, taking the napkin and wiping her face personally, spreading some of the dairy treat over her face even more, but cleaning most off.

"See, you've now got strawberry in your eyebrow."

"But, that makes me like Mommy now," she stated, shutting her eyes and concentrating really hard. When she opened her eyes, her right was still its normal vibrant pink, but her left had turned to a copper brown colour like her Dad's.

"Zinnia Alistair," he breathed, "you never cease to amaze me and make me proud." Her eye blinked back to its normal pink before they glazed over slightly and she felt lightheaded.

{" _Are you okay there, sweetie?_ "} Neo asked.

"Yeah… just a… it makes me focus really, _really_ hard, and sometimes I get a little dizzy afterwards."

"That's just the concentration. That'll get better over time as you practice."

"But Osiria can already do her cool summoning," she muttered with a sulk, taking a frustrated bite from her tri coloured cone, only to regret it when the cone fought back. "Ow ow ow ow, brain freeze, brain freeze!"

"Osiria is… special in that sense. She has the skill from both her Mommies, the never give up attitude of Ruby and the patience and determination of Weiss. She was summoning because she got the best of both Moms."

"Did I not get the best of you then?" she asked out loud, the slightest hint of sadness on the little girl's face. Fox was speechless at the fact his daughter thought that.

{" _Of course you did; you got my looks, my charm, my gender, you got your DAG Syndrome from me, which means you can do your cool eye trick, basically everything great about you came from me._ "}

"You do realise I'm sitting right here," Fox deadpanned.

"Of course she does," Zinnia groaned, as if it was the most obvious statement on Remnant, "that's why she said it."

"I-" Both parents were definitely speechless now. ~ _Since when did our baby girl become so smart?~_

~ _She got that from me too,_ ~ Neo grinned.

~ _Shut up.~_

~ _No.~_ Neo stuck her tongue out at Fox to extenuate her point.

"Why are you talking to each other in your heads again?" the pink eyed girl interrupted.

{" _We were just discussing some things Zinnia, nothing more._ "} Neo wanted to continue, but she noticed her daughter's cone getting very runny. {" _Zinnia, your ice cream._ "} The seven year old practically pounced on the unsuspecting dairy treat as she saw it drooping and nearly falling onto the table top, eating so much at once that she got brain freeze again, but she ploughed on through.

~ _Do you want to head straight home after this?_ ~ Fox asked.

~ _Yeah,_ ~ Neo replied, ~ _it's been a long day, and that running around has exhausted me. I'm ready to call it quits now._ ~

The scarred man looked at his wife with a great big smile on his face.

~ _I couldn't agree more._ ~

* * *

**{END OF ACT 3}**

If you want to see an image of this final scene, go to mine ([biggreenneatbox](https://biggreenneatbox.tumblr.com/)) or the commissioned artist's ([barbara-lazuli](https://barbara-lazuli.tumblr.com/)) Tumblr accounts

* * *

**} THE END {**


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